Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball downs Guelph, 74-67, sweeps Canadian Tour
09/04/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 4, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
GUELPH, Ontario - Southern Illinois used a ferocious defense to collect 16 steals on 21 turnovers in a 74-67 exhibition win over the University of Guelph earlier tonight at W.F. Mitchell Athletic Center. The win completed a three-game sweep for the Dawgs in Canada.
SIU led, 20-19, late in the first half, before its defense erupted for five steals, which helped ignite a 21-point surge in the last eight minutes.
Junior forward Carlai Moore, who pitched in a game-high 22 points, scored eight in a row at one time during the stretch.
As the game went along, Moore's quickness and athleticism proved to be too much for the Gryphons to handle.
"It was nice to see Carlai step up and be a go-to player," said head coach Dana Eikenberg. "She defended tough, picked off a lot of long passes and played gutsy."
SIU extended its lead to double-digits in the second half, but the Gryphons kept battling, and as a result, pulled to within a bucket (60-58).
However, a key jumper by Elyse Morris and more smothering defense fought off the scrappy Gryphons, despite the fact they edged the Salukis, 34-33, in the second half.
"Tonight was a culmination of things we've been teaching the last couple weeks," said Eikenberg. "We did a great job defensively against a team which is comparable to the Valley. The five players on the floor made things exciting and gave us opportunities to score."
One of the major impact players on the defensive end was sophomore Jayme Sweere, who was virtually all over the place. She scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and posted a team-high seven steals on the night.
"Jayme played under control with great confidence offensively," commented Eikenberg. "On the defensive end, she has great anticipation and is always around the ball."
Sophomore Erin Pauk and freshman Jasmine Gibson rounded out a group of four Salukis in double figures. Pauk had 11 points, while Gibson followed with 10.
One of the things Eikenberg mentioned prior to SIU's trip to Canada was how much of a confidence booster some early wins could be for her young squad.
The fact that SIU came away with three gives the Dawgs something nice to build on.
"I'm proud of our players. We came here with the goal to really focus and play hard," said Eikenberg. "Our upperclassmen led and helped create the environment we need to change the mindset of this team."
SIU tips off its 2005-06 season at home against Weber State on Nov. 19.
