Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
15-9, 8-4MVC
Evansville
2-21, 1-11MVC
Salukis erase halftime deficit, drop Purple Aces, 66-63
02/14/2016 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Four scored in double figures for the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team as the Salukis completed the season sweep of Evansville for the first time in the Cindy Stein era with a 66-63 win over the Purple Aces Sunday, Feb. 14 inside the Ford Center.
The Salukis (15-9, 8-4 MVC) were led in scoring by redshirt senior Cartaesha Macklin, who finished with 15 points and tied a season-best with nine rebounds. Junior Kim Nebo notched her second career double-double tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Kylie Giebelhausen totaled 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to go along with five assists. Sophomore Celina VanHyfte tied a career-high with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, adding five boards in 29 minutes off the bench.
Southern trailed for most of the first half after opening the contest on a 5-0 run, with the Purple Aces leading 28-26 at the half. Evansville (2-21, 1-11 MVC) was red-hot from the field, as the Aces shot 11-of-22 from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, with Camille Coleman setting a new career-high in the first half, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
"[Evansville] was on fire," said SIU head coach Cindy Stein. "You have to give them a lot of credit for coming out here and playing really hard. We had a hard time guarding them to start with. A lot of it was lack of communication. We just need to get better. We got a lot of things accomplished at half."
Giebelhausen drew the assignment of guarding Coleman out of the locker room at the half, and answered the call admirably, as Coleman shot just 2-of-7 during the second half, finishing with 26 points.
"I think we played [Coleman] a little tighter in the second half," said Giebelhausen. "We made other people put the ball on the floor and score. My length effected her. It throws off a lot of people's shooting."
The East Peoria, Ill., native also sank several big shots down the stretch, connecting on 4-of-5 3-point attempts in the second half.
"When we run things through the post and through the guards, it makes our offense flow a lot better," said Giebelhausen. "We struggle when we're just passing around the arc and we don't look for our post players or they don't look to seal players. When everyone wants the ball like how we played in the second half, it flows and everything drops."
Southern's increased ball movement in the second half was evident on the stat sheet, as the Salukis assisted on 13 of 15 second-half field goals, shooting 55.6% (15-of-27) in the process. In total, SIU tied a season-high with 19 assists, while turning the ball over a season-low five times.
"I really felt like our ball movement was much, much better in the second half," said Stein.
The Salukis shot 41.7-percent (25-of-60) from the field for the game, and out-rebounded the Purple Aces, 35-to-26.
Southern got on the scoreboard first, making the game's first two baskets to take an early 5-0 lead. The Aces battled back to take their first lead of the contest at 12-11 with 2:35 to go in the first. Coleman grew Evansville's lead to three, but a layup by Macklin got SIU to within one (14-13) at the end of the first.
The Purple Aces led by as many as five, 22-17 with 5:14 to play in the second, but a put back by Nebo and a free-throw and layup by VanHyfte tied the game, 22-22 with 3:13 remaining in the half. The Aces again took a lead into the break, clinging to a 28-26 advantage after two quarters.
After Evansville pushed its lead to six, 36-30, with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter, Giebelhausen brought Southern back, connecting on her first 3-pointer of the second half and finding Nebo underneath for a layup to get SIU to within one (36-35). After a Sara Dickey layup pushed Evansville's lead to three, Napier knocked down a 3-ball to tie the contest at 38. Southern took control from there, taking a five point lead (48-43) on Carlie Corrigan's first 3-pointer of the game and led 48-45 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter was a back and forth affair, with Corrigan's second 3-ball giving Southern a 53-49 lead with 8:20 to play. An 8-0 run by the Aces gave the home team its first lead of the fourth at 57-53, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Giebelhausen gave the Salukis back a lead it never relinquished.
Southern returns to the SIU Arena on Friday, Feb. 19 to host its annual Donate Life Donor Awareness game against the Missouri State Lady Bears. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
