Southern Illinois University
2-22, 0-13
Northern Iowa
20-5, 13-1
Women's Basketball falls to Northern Iowa 68-41
02/17/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The venue changed, but the script pretty much stayed the same.
The Southern Illinois women's basketball team's 68-41 loss to Northern Iowa Thursday night at SIU Arena mirrored the Salukis' earlier loss to the Panthers in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in many respects.
Southern (2-22, 0-13 MVC) stuck with league-leading UNI (20-5, 13-1 MVC) early in both games only to have the Panthers end the first half on a big run before putting the game out of reach in the second half.
SIU overcame an early 11-point deficit Thursday to draw within two points of UNI at 17-15 midway through the half. The Salukis stayed with the Panthers over the next four minutes before UNI finally shook loose and scored 12 points unanswered, eventually going into halftime up 37-24.
SIU coach Missy Tiber said the defensive presence of freshman center CiCi Shannon helped the Salukis early. Shannon was relegated to the bench with foul trouble late in the half, however, and the Panthers took advantage.
"The biggest difference was, (Shannon) was out of the game," Tiber said. "The intensity was very good, we were scoring some and CiCi was a major presence on the defensive end of the court. When she came out, all of the sudden it went from a two-point game to double digits going into the half."
Much like its trip to Cedar Falls, Southern couldn't find a way to dig its way back into the game in the second half. UNI hit a 3-pointer out of the locker room to extend the lead to 16 points and slowly built the margin to 20 five minutes in at 49-29.
Southern briefly pulled back under 20 at 49-32, but UNI promptly posted a 9-0 run and the Salukis wouldn't come any closer than 23 points the rest of the night.
Tiber reiterated what a difference it makes for a team like UNI to be able to use junior and senior-laden lineups while SIU plays with three or four freshman at a time.
Freshmen were a big factor, however, in the Salukis' ability to stick with the Panthers early on. Shannon came up with three big blocks in the first half while Jordyn Courier scored all of her career-best nine points in the opening frame.
"I was pleased with what our freshmen gave us in spurts," Tiber said. "CiCi was our leader. I'm seeing her call huddles and I'm seeing her intensity on the court." Shannon led Southern with 10 points and seven rebounds while Teri Oliver chipped in eight points and Brooke LeMar dished out six assists. Jacqui Kalin led four Panthers in double figures with 18 points.
Tiber said she hopes to use UNI as an example of where her program could go.
"I told my players the biggest thing they have to take away from this game is Northern Iowa's desire to be good started a little over a year ago," Tiber said. "They were in a rough situation and really didn't start clicking until the conference tournament last year. How hard those kids play for 40 minutes, we have to take that and learn something from it."
The Salukis will be back in action against Bradley Saturday at SIU Arena. The game is scheduled to tipoff 30 minutes after the conclusion of the SIU men's 2 p.m. ESPN BracketBusters game against Green Bay. Fans with tickets to the men's game will also be admitted to the women's game.
