Salukis hang tough against No. 16 Oklahoma

Sunday, November 13

Norman, Okla.

12:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-1

Oklahoma

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Southern Illinois	14	18	2	14	48
Oklahoma	17	21	23	19	80

11/13/2016 | 4:56:00 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SIU falls to Oklahoma, 80-48.

By: WIll Becque, SIUSalukis.com

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Southern Illinois women's basketball team hung tough throughout the first half of Sunday's contest against the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners, but the Sooners were ultimately too much for the Salukis to handle, opening the 2016-17 season with an 80-48 victory.

The Salukis (0-1) trailed by only three at the end of the first quarter and claimed their first lead of the contest a minute into the second quarter. SIU went into the half down only six while holding Oklahoma to 28.6% shooting in the opening half, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.

"Their three-point shot really worried me and we got through a half without them scoring a three," fourth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "Which was really good. But we put them at the line way too much. 28 times in the game. So we have to clean some of that stuff up. I thought we had a really good half, but again, its putting two good halves together."

The Sooners (1-0) quickly regrouped to start the second half, turning up the defensive pressure as they outscored the Salukis, 23-2 and held SIU without a field goal in the third frame to build a lead it never surrendered.

"We talked about why we scheduled this game and it is because we want to know the type of team we would be playing in the first or second round of the NCAA Tournament," Stein said. "We want to get in the NCAA Tournament. Now we have a measuring stick. We now know what we have to do to get there. Sometimes it's a rude awakening. Our kids definitely want to (make the NCAA Tournament). I have some kids that are very driven, like Rishonda Napier, and she deserves to have a chance. Obviously we can play a half, but we have to be able to put two halves together and learn from it."

Napier had 14 first-half points and provided an answer for the Saluki offense whenever they needed it throughout the opening half. The Sooners, however, turned up the defensive pressure on Napier in the second half, holding the preseason All-MVC selection scoreless.

"You have to credit Oklahoma's defense," Stein said. "They caused some problems, they switched on defense, and we had kids that had to take the extra effort to get open and that wore us down."

Junior Kylie Giebelhausen finished with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, a block and a steal, while redshirt freshman Tiajaney Hawkins was a spark off the bench for the Salukis, as she added eight points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play.

Both teams were cold from the floor to open the contest, as the two teams combined to miss their first 14 three-point attempts. SIU's first three, a stop-and-pop from the key by Giebelhausen, cut Southern's deficit to eight, 15-7. SIU's second three-ball of the game, this one from senior Carlie Corrigan, got Southern to within three (15-12) with 1:05 to play in the opening stanza.

A beautiful feed from Giebelhausen to a cutting Kim Nebo got SIU to within one on Southern's first possession of the second quarter and a runner in the lane by Napier gave SIU its first lead of the game at 18-17 with 8:47 remaining in the half. Nebo again gave the Salukis the lead on put back lay up that gave Southern a 20-19 advantage.

The Sooners quickly regained the lead for good less than a minute later, and went on a 6-0 run to open the second half that effectively put the game out of reach.

The Salukis return to action Thursday, Nov. 17 when they host the Murray State Racers for their home opener. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.