Salukis drop back-and-forth battle with SIUE, 60-59

Wednesday, November 23

Edwardsville, Ill.

7 PM

Southern Illinois University

2-2

SIUE

1-3

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Southern Illinois	14	9	22	14	59
SIUE	18	8	16	18	60

Photo by: Madison Case

11/23/2016 | 9:57:00 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: John Lock, SIUSalukis.com

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois women's basketball team dropped a back-and-forth battle at SIU Edwardsville, 60-59, on Wednesday night. With the game tied at 54 with under two minutes to play, the Cougars (1-3) went on a 5-0 run and held off SIU's rally at the end.

"Our kids fought, but honestly Edwardsville out-toughed us tonight," SIU head coach Cindy Stein said. "They deserved to win. They played really hard, and they played really well. That's the name of the game."

The Cougars ended up with 19 offensive rebounds and won the second-chance points battle 19-4. Edwardsville's final three points of the game were second-chance points.

"Our rebounding was not very good," Stein said. "Our 5's kept leaving the paint, and our 4's didn't even get in the paint. It was a frustrating night in that we couldn't get anyone to rebound."

Both teams went on extended runs throughout the game. SIU jumped out to a 10-2 lead but trailed 18-14 after the first quarter. The Salukis got within 24-23 in the second quarter with six minutes to go, but neither team made a shot the rest of the half.

The Salukis started the second half with seven-straight makes—four of which were 3-pointers—to grab control of the game. Southern Illinois assisted on all seven buckets in that stretch and on 20 of 21 made baskets during the game.

Southern's defense held Edwardsville to 3-for-17 shooting in the third quarter, too, but the Cougars stayed in the game with a +12 free throw disparity, scoring 10 of their 16 third-quarter points at the line.

"We went in spurts," Stein said. "There were times we were hot, then we would relax. We let them back in the game, then we go on another spurt. Then we relax again, and we haven't made up any ground."

The Salukis had a chance at the end of the game. Kylie Giebelhausen hit a 3-pointer to get SIU within two points in the final minute, and the defense got a stop but couldn't finish it; SIUE earned the offensive rebound and hit 1-of-2 free throws to go up 60-57 with 27 seconds left.

SIU hunted a 3-pointer but couldn't find one, settling for a Kim Nebo layup with four seconds left. Edwardsville got the ensuing in-bounds pass and made three quick passes to run out the clock.

Kim Nebo was nearly flawless for most of the night, making her first seven shots. She ended the game with a career-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Kylie Giebelhausen knocked down five 3-pointers and ended up with 17 points. Lauren Hartman pulled in 12 more rebounds; she's now averaging 13.3 rebounds per game over her last three games.

The Salukis host Brescia on Saturday, November 26, at 2 p.m. CT in SIU Arena.