Southern Illinois University
2-9, 1-0MVC
Evansville
3-9, 0-1MVC
Women's Basketball opens conference season with win against Evansville
01/02/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2010
By Shalae Patrick
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois women's basketball team, led by Stephany Neptune with a near triple-double, opened the Missouri Valley Conference season with a victory over Evansville, 79-68, Saturday afternoon in SIU Arena.
Down by four points at halftime (34-30), the Salukis (2-9, 1-0 MVC) used a 23-to-11 run to start the second half to take down the Purple Aces (3-8, 0-1 MVC).
"We had some trouble in the first half trying to score, so in the second half we went with a defensive mindset and the half court set defensively so we could get stops and run them off the court," Saluki head coach Missy Tiber said.
Neptune recorded 22 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, six steals and a block in the Salukis win.
Freshmen Katerina Garcia and Teri Oliver combined for 34 points, including six 3-pointers, seven rebounds three assists and seven steals for SIU
"We have been continuing to work on our fast break offense and I think the difference today is that we pushed the ball and we converted and the pass," Tiber said. "We are getting looks we really converted on the fast break."
Katrina Swingler and Latoya Hambrick combined for 15 points off the bench, the duo with some clutch shots down the stretch.
Amy Gallagher led Evansville with 15 points and four rebounds, while Stephanie Bamberger added 12 points.
The Salukis continue Missouri Valley Conference play traveling to UNI Jan. 7 (7 p.m.), and Bradley Jan. 9 (2 p.m.).
