Southern Illinois University
4-5
Saint Louis
2-7
Women's Basketball loses to Saint Louis, 63-61
12/22/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Tyler McIlwraith scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures, as Saint Louis (2-7) limited Southern Illinois (4-5) to 26 second half points in a 63-61 win earlier tonight at the Savvis Center.
It was a question of who wanted it more.
SLU entered the game with hopes of ending a six-game losing streak, while SIU was looking to regroup from a 96-69 loss at Missouri four days ago.
And, when the buzzer sounded, it was the Billikens who prevailed.
"They were hungry and wanted to win," said Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg. "There was a miserable lack of energy in our practices all week and we seemed to be more concerned with wrapping gifts than preparing for a basketball game."
All but nine of SIU's points in the first half came from three-point range (12) and off the bench (14), as the Salukis built a 35-32 halftime lead.
Back-to-back treys by Amy Hayden and Erin Pauk ignited an 11-3 run to lift SIU to a 27-20 advantage, before SLU outscored the Dawgs, 12-8, in the last five minutes to cut the lead to three.
After shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half, SIU was sluggish to start the second.
The Dawgs made 33 percent (4-of-12) of their shots in the first eight and a half minutes of the second half, while SLU heated up to drain 7-of-11 field goals.
SLU's quick 60 percent clip led to a 15-6 run, as the Billikens took a 47-41 lead with 12:49 remaining.
The Salukis battled back to tie the game at 49-49 on Carlai Moore's jumper with 9:02 remaining, but stuggled to get ahead of the Billikens.
Shortly after Moore's bucket, SIU turned the ball over on three of its next four possessions.
SLU, in turn, made three layups and a free throw to take a 56-49 lead (6:51).
"Their defense led to several easy transition baskets and we did not do a good job of stopping penetration," said Eikenberg.
Moore pulled SIU to within striking distance two more times when her layup narrowed the gap to 60-57 (2:31) and her two free throws cut the lead to 61-59 (:15).
The Salukis, however, were forced to foul, and SLU's Rachel Diener responded by sinking two free throws in the last seven seconds to seal the 63-61 win.
McIlwraith shot 6-of-13 from the field to top the Billikens with 16 points. Heather King followed with 15, while Yanique Javois had 13 and Diener added 10.
SLU outscored SIU 14-2 in fast break points and ended up shooting 47.3 percent on the night, including a 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) in the second half.
Meanwhile, SIU outrebounded SLU, 38-30, and outscored the Billikens 24-10 off the bench.
Offensively, Moore scored 25 points and freshman reserve Jasmine Gibson had 16 to pace the Dawgs. Moore hit 11-of-17 from the field, while Gibson made 6-of-10. The two also accounted for 16 boards, as Gibson grabbed nine and Moore pulled down seven.
Moore has now pitched in 20 or more points four times this season.
SIU breaks for the holidays before opening Missouri Valley Conference play at Illinois State on Dec. 30.
