Women's Basketball tops Illinois-Springfield 72-46
11/06/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 6, 2010
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. --The Southern Illinois women's basketball team forced 28 Illinois-Springfield turnovers and overcame a sluggish start on offense to take a 72-46 win in exhibition play Saturday at SIU Arena.
SIU head coach Missy Tiber said it was obvious her team was seeing its first action of the season as the Salukis didn't score a basket until the 16:22 mark and shot just 24 percent from the field in the first half.
"I think there were a lot of first game jitters," Tiber said. "I was a little discouraged with how flat we came out."
A combination of solid defense and the shooting of sophomore guard Teri Oliver kept the Salukis ahead, however, as Southern took a 30-20 lead into the locker room. The Salukis forced 18 turnovers and Oliver scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the first half.
SIU's offense eventually came around with the Salukis improving to a 42-point second-half output as more players got involved in the offense. The Prairie Stars stuck around early in the second, trailing just 44-33 at the 11:11 mark before Southern distanced itself with a 20-6 run over the ensuing eight minutes.
"I thought that in the second half we settled down and started doing some things that I asked them to do," Tiber said. "We were making plays, diving on the floor -- doing everything that we were supposed to do."
Senior guard Eboni Crayton joined Oliver in double figures with 12 points and seven rebounds, six of which were offensive boards.
"Eboni did a great job of getting us a lot of second-chance opportunities," Tiber said. "She was crashing the boards and making good plays for us."
Senior Katrina Swingler and freshman CiCi Shannon both scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds while Charnise Mitchell added eight points and nine rebounds. The frontcourt trio was a big reason the Salukis out-rebounded UIS 52-38.
Tiber said the game was a good measuring stick for her young squad heading into the team's first regular-season game against UT Martin Friday, Nov. 12, at SIU Arena.
"That's what these exhibitions are for -- to learn about your team," Tiber said. "I thought our defense was fine with giving up 46 points. Our problem was on the offensive end. We didn't quite execute the transition game that I would have liked. There's a lot of room for us to get better before next Friday."