Southern Illinois University
3-3
Tennessee Tech
5-1
Women's Basketball loses to Tennessee Tech, 70-60
12/05/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman Meagan Lyons scored 24 points and Kendall Cavin pitched in 20 to lead Ohio Valley Conference preseason favorite Tennessee Tech (5-1) to a 70-60 win over Southern Illinois (3-3) earlier tonight at the Eblen Center.
The loss marked SIU's third-straight and dropped the Dawgs to a 2-10 record in Cookeville.
SIU trailed the entire game and the closest it came to catching TTU was when Erin Pauk's three-pointer pulled the Dawgs to within one (19-18) at the 7:30 mark in the first half.
From then on, TTU extended its lead to as many as 14 (66-52) on a Lyons jumper with 4:13 left, as the Golden Eaglettes only let their lead fall below double-digits once in the last 5:54 of the game.
Lyons hit 7-of-13 field goals and 10-of-12 free throws en route to her game-high 24 points.
Emily Christian, who averaged 21 points in her first three games against the Dawgs, was held under that mark with 17. Christian also had 11 boards.
SIU was led by Elyse Morris' season-high 15 points. Jasmine Gibson followed with 12 in 20 minutes off the bench.
TTU's 20-of-24 effort at the free throw line, including a perfect 15-of-15 in the second half, keyed the win for the Golden Eaglettes.
SIU was whistled for 21 fouls to TTU's 13 on the night. The Salukis also shot only 7-of-8 free throws, were outrebounded, 43-38, and shot a season-low 34.3 percent (23-of-67).
The Salukis were also outrebounded, 43-38, while shooting a season-low 34.3 percent (23-of-67) from the field.
"We had opportunities, but we're not disciplined enough and we're inexperienced," said Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg. "We have to learn from these mistakes in order to prepare ourselves for the Valley."
SIU returns home to host South Dakota State on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tip off is at 2:05 p.m.
