Southern Illinois University
16-16
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
21-11
Women's Basketball concludes season with loss to Milwaukee in WBI
03/15/2017 | 10:28:00 | Women's Basketball
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Southern Illinois women's basketball team fell to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 81-53, in the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational Wednesday, March 15 inside the Klotsche Center.
SIU (16-15) was led by freshman Nicole Martin and junior Kylie Giebelhausen. Martin scored a career-high 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Giebelhausen finished with 11 points and four assists.
Redshirt senior Rishonda Napier tallied five points, three assists and two steals, and ends her career second all-time in Missouri Valley Conference history in career three-pointers with 277.
Milwaukee (21-11) had three players finish in double-figures led by Steph Kostowicz's team-high 16 points. All 12 Panthers that dressed scored in the win, and Milwaukee will now await the winner of Campbell and St. Francis (Pa.).
The Salukis opened the contest on a 6-2 run, but the Panthers countered with a 10-0 spurt of their own to take a 12-6 lead. Southern's defense clamped down to end the first, and a runner in the lane by Kristen Nelson gave SIU a 17-16 lead at the end of the first.
After missing their first attempt in the second quarter, the Panthers offense got rolling, connecting on their next six shots to build a 30-23 lead. SIU responded with seven-straight points, including back-to-back layups off steals from Martin that tied the game, 30-30.
Milwaukee, however, built a 42-36 lead at the half on the strength of their shooting. The Panthers shot 65.4% (17-of-26) from the field in the first half, including 66.7% (6-of-9) from behind the arc.
Southern struggled in the second half, and the Panthers took advantage, building a 59-43 lead after three quarters and outscored SIU, 22-10 in the final frame.
"Our sense of urgency to get into the defensive spot that we needed to be in just wasn't there the entire game," Stein said.
The Salukis conclude the 2016-17 season with a 16-15 record. It marks their third-straight winning season, and the trip to the postseason was their second-straight after they ended a nine-year drought a year ago.
