Fourth Quarter Surge propels Salukis to 82-73 win over Huskies

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Carbondale, Il.

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team outscored Northern Illinois, 27-17 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Huskies, 82-73 Friday night inside SIU Arena.

In a game of runs, the Salukis (4-4) outlasted the Huskies (4-4) when it mattered the most. Southern built a seven-point lead, 65-58, with 6:29 to go in regulation only to see Northern get to within one, 74-73 over the next four minutes of play.

The Salukis dialed up a pair of 3-balls, one from Abby Brockmeyer and the other- a corner three-pointer as the shot clock expired by Kristen Nelson, that gave SIU a lead it never surrendered.

"Recently we've been playing games where we haven't finished," Brockmeyer said. "We lost a game by one and another by five so it feels good to finally finish and win at the end. I think we finished very strong. We hit some big shots in the fourth quarter. It felt good."

Southern turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and went into the break leading by just two, 42-40. SIU went 0-for-5 from three-point range in the third and NIU grabbed a narrow 56-55 advantage at the end of three periods. Southern wasn't deterred though. The Salukis found their stroke in the fourth and made 7-of-10 from behind the arc over the final 10 minutes of play to seal the win.

SIU shot 44.4% (28-of-63) from the floor including a season-best 46.7% (14-of-30) from three-point range. Southern's 14 treys were its most in the Cindy Stein era and its most since a January 5, 2013 win over Drake when the Salukis made 15 three-pointers.

"I thought this was a good game for us," sixth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "Northern Illinois is a great team and they do some things to you- whether they have penetration and are attacking the basket or grabbing key offensive rebounds. They are definitely versatile so good game for us to have to step up and play some defense at the end to win. I think the threes got us going and we got real excited about that."

Making her first start of the season, and 25th start of her career, Nelson finished with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. It marked the second-straight game, and the eighth time in her career that the Farmington, Mich. native has scored in double figures.

Brockmeyer notched her fifth double-double, and 10th of her career, with 26 points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes of play. The Raymond, Ill. native was particularly effective from downtown, as she drained a career-high three three-pointers. Fellow sophomore Makenzie Silvey chipped in 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. It marked the second time this season that the Glen Carbon, Ill. native has finished with 20-plus points.

Brittney Patrick set a career-high with 11 assists and did not record a turnover in 33 minutes of work. Patrick became the first Saluki in nearly 33 years to record 10-plus assists without recording a turnover. Marialice Jenkins last accomplished the feat with 12 assists and zero turnovers in a 72-51 win over Indiana State on March 6, 1985.

"Britt did a great job of taking care of the ball and penetrating and that led to our shooters being wide open," Silvey said. "That has a lot to do with why we hit 14 threes tonight because she was doing a great job and the defense was having to step up."

The Salukis are back at home tomorrow, Dec. 8 when they host Eastern Illinois at 3 p.m. The Panthers defeated Western Illinois, 64-62 in the first game of the inaugural Compass Challenge Friday night.

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