Southern Illinois University
Drake
Women's Basketball beats Drake, 74-66
01/21/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2006
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (8-9, 4-4) snapped a 19-game losing streak against Drake (8-8, 4-3) with a 74-66 win earlier today in Missouri Valley Conference action at SIU Arena.
SIU hadn't beaten DU since 1996. That year also marked the last time the Salukis swept Creighton and Drake at home. SIU beat the Bluejays, 85-63, on Thursday.
"We knocked off two programs this week, which I have a lot of respect for," said an elated Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg. "We found a way to win and I'm proud of our team."
It was indeed a team effort for the Dawgs, who had four players score double figures for the second-straight game.
SIU also received a big lift from its bench, which was tested after the Salukis got into foul trouble, and the Saluki freshmen were clutch.
"There were 21 boards between the freshmen today," said Eikenberg. "They're playing with confidence and learning from the upperclassmen."
SIU trailed by eight points on four occasions in the game's first 20 minutes, but used a 10-3 run to close out the first half.
Erin Pauk's jumper tied the game at 28-28 (3:20), and her two free throws on SIU's ensuing possession gave the Dawgs their first lead (2:49) before they secured a 34-31 edge at the break.
DU opened the second half with a 12-4 run to take a 43-38 lead on Brandy Dahir's free throw with 12:35 remaining.
With the help of Jayme Sweere's jumper immediately following the Bulldog spurt, SIU answered with a 10-5 jaunt of its own, as Pauk's two free throws brought the game to its second tie at, 48-48, with just under 10 minutes left.
Sweere then scored six-straight points to key a 9-0 run, as the Dawgs went ahead by nine, 57-48, three minutes later.
DU made it a one-possession game twice in the last 4:13 when Jordan Plummer's two free throws (59-56, 4:13) and jumper (61-58, 2:41) narrowed the gap to three.
However, SIU kept its poise and used two more buckets and a free throw by Sweere, three baskets from freshman Jasmine Gibson and four free throws by Erin Pauk to bury the Bulldogs down the stretch.
For the first time in 10-straight games, someone other than Carlai Moore led SIU in scoring, as Sweere finished with 26 points to lead the Salukis.
Sweere's 24 points, which came via 11-of-20 field goals and 2-of-3 free throws, surpassed her total point output in the last two Valley games. She also had nine rebounds.
Pauk, who scored a combined 21 points in her last five league outings, followed with 18, including 12-of-13 from the free throw line. She also dished out two assists and only turned the ball over twice in the breakout performance.
"Erin did a terrific job today and she played like the point guard we know," said Eikenberg. "She was solid at the free throw line when the game counted and she controlled the tempo."
Moore also chipped in 14, while Gibson added 10. For Gibson, it was her second-straight double-digit effort off the bench, after going five of six games under 10 points as a starter.
SIU, the Valley's top team when it comes to defending the three, also limited DU to 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) treys in the second half after the Bulldogs opened the game with a 57.1 percent (4-of-7) clip behind the arc.
As for the Saluki freshmen, they joined forces for 21 rebounds, including a career-high 10 by Teresa Parker, three by Erica Smith, and four each by Gibson and Gentry Dietz. Thanks to the freshmen, SIU outrebound DU, 44-40.
Linda Sayavongchanh topped DU with 16 points, as the Bulldogs also had four in double figures. Lindsay Whorton (15), Brandy Dahir (11) and Jill Martin (10) followed.
Sayavongchanh had14 points in the first half, but was silenced to two in the second.
Eikenberg says Sweere was the reason for that.
"We had Jayme guard her in the second half and her size helped in keep Linda off-balance," said Eikenberg.
SIU breaks for a week before closing out the first half of MVC play at Evansville on Jan. 28.
