Southern Illinois University
5-7, 1-1MVC
Illinois State
12-1, 2-0MVC
Women's Basketball falls late against Illinois State, 82-78
01/05/2008 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2008
By Shalae Patrick
www.siusalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - League-leading Illinois State (12-1, 2-0 MVC) beat Southern Illinois (5-7, 1-1 MVC) on the boards and knocked in key free throws in the waning minutes of the game to hand the defending Missouri Valley Conference Salukis their first league loss of the year, 82-78, at SIU Arena Saturday afternoon.
"This was a tough loss," Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg said, "but none the less there were some positives to take out of it. I feel like we were just back waiting on our heels for them to make the first strike."
The Redbirds got off to a quick start jumping ahead by as many as nine just four minutes into the game. Southern started an 19 to 4 run with 12:13 left in the first half, including 11-straight points to take a seven-point lead over the Redbirds, 34-27, their largest of the game.
The lead switched hands one more time, before The Salukis went up three heading into the locker room at the half.
The lead changed hands seven different times in the second half before Illinois State took the lead for the last time on a 3-pointer by Tiffany Hudson at the three-minute mark, 75-73.
The Redbirds made five of six free throws in the final three minutes to put the game out of reach for the Salukis in the final seconds.
"We battled really hard and I thought that Cortney (Sales) did a terrific job and gave us a bit of a lift when Jasmine (Gibson) became a little invisible in the second half. Jayme (Sweere) just really played a great all around game and gave us that balance and leadership that we need.
Sweere led the Salukis with a team-high 25 points, 10 rebounds, while Gibson added 14 points and four assists.
Sales along with Ellen Young came off the bench for 13 and 11 points respectively, the second-straight game the Salukis put at least four players in double-digits.
For ILS, defending MVC Player of the Year Kristi Cirone led all players with 27 points and seven assists. Ashleen Bracey recorded the second double-double of the game, a 14 point, 12 rebound effort, while Hudson pitched in 19.
"Hopefully Sweere and Sales continue to give us leadership as seniors as our freshman continue to learn and understand and this one will be a good one to get ourselves righted before we go off to Missouri State and Wichita State," Eikenberg said.
The weekend split mirrors the Salukis' opening Valley weekend at home a year ago with a victory over Indiana State and a loss to Illinois State.
The Salukis take to the road at Wichita State (7 p.m.) and Missouri State (2 p.m.) on January 10 and 12 respectively. Both games can be heard live on www.siusalukis.com.
