Sunday, January 6
Carbondale, IL
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
8-5, 1-1
58
vs
61
Indiana State University
7-6, 1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Indiana State
17
10
15
19
61
Southern Illinois
15
13
18
12
58
Sycamores slip past Salukis, 61-58
01/06/2019 | 5:41:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois women's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Sunday, as the Indiana State Sycamores held on to defeat the Salukis, 61-58 inside SIU Arena.
The Salukis (8-5, 1-1 MVC) led by as many as nine but struggled offensively late in the contest, which included just 4-of-14 shooting in the fourth quarter. Indiana State, meanwhile, shot 50% (7-of-14) from the floor in the fourth and enjoyed a significant advantage on the glass. The Sycamores out-rebounded the Salukis, 43-to-33, to win their first MVC game under first-year head coach Vicki Hall. The win also snapped SIU's four-game winning streak over Indiana State (7-6, 1-1 MVC).
"In retrospect, this is probably a good game for us to lose," sixth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "We needed to be a lot tougher and hopefully this will do it. We've talked about our team and how we need to be mentally tough and we need to be able to play physical against physical teams like Indiana State. This is just one of those games that we will just have to learn from and get better."
Indiana State led briefly in both the first and second quarters, but each time Southern answered the call to regain the lead. The Salukis took their largest lead, 46-37, on a pair of free throws by Nicole Martin with 1:42 to play in the third. The Sycamores chipped away though, as they made two free throws to cut the lead to seven before Tamara Lee's half-court heave at the buzzer found nothing but net to cut SIU's advantage down to four.
In the fourth, Indiana State got to within one thanks to a three-point play by Kierra Isiah. Rachel Pudlowski's first three-ball of the season gave SIU breathing room and a layup by Kristen Nelson extended Southern's lead to six, 51-45, with 8:01 to play. Indiana State continued to hang around though, thanks in part to SIU shooting just 28.5% (4-of-14) from the field in the fourth, including just 1-of-5 from behind the arc.The Salukis also had several chances late to put the game away but were unable to convert. Indiana State took the lead for good with :42 seconds to play on a lay-in by Ty Battle.
"We've been harping on our free throws all along and if we make those free throws we win the game," Stein said. "If we make the four layups in the fourth quarter we win the game. We didn't close it out. We have to get better there."
Martin had a career night for the Salukis in the loss. The junior forward played a career-high 39 minutes and responded with a career-best 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go along with six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. It marks the fourth time this season, and the seventh time in her career, that the Jefferson City, Mo. native has scored 20-plus points.
"Nicole is playing really well," Stein said. "She's playing really hard and wants the ball. She's doing whatever she can. I felt like she was pretty solid the entire night. She could've probably had a couple more rebounds but (Indiana State) was doing a good job keeping her off the boards. They challenged every shot so for her to have 26 points is pretty amazing because she was a lot of their concentration on defense."
Kristen Nelson chipped in 13 points, four assists and a steal in a career-high 37 minutes, while Makenzie Silvey reached double figures for the 11th time this season. Silvey finished with 10 points, tied her career-high with five assists and added five steals.
The Salukis return to action on Jan. 13 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on the Missouri State Lady Bears. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
The Salukis (8-5, 1-1 MVC) led by as many as nine but struggled offensively late in the contest, which included just 4-of-14 shooting in the fourth quarter. Indiana State, meanwhile, shot 50% (7-of-14) from the floor in the fourth and enjoyed a significant advantage on the glass. The Sycamores out-rebounded the Salukis, 43-to-33, to win their first MVC game under first-year head coach Vicki Hall. The win also snapped SIU's four-game winning streak over Indiana State (7-6, 1-1 MVC).
"In retrospect, this is probably a good game for us to lose," sixth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "We needed to be a lot tougher and hopefully this will do it. We've talked about our team and how we need to be mentally tough and we need to be able to play physical against physical teams like Indiana State. This is just one of those games that we will just have to learn from and get better."
Indiana State led briefly in both the first and second quarters, but each time Southern answered the call to regain the lead. The Salukis took their largest lead, 46-37, on a pair of free throws by Nicole Martin with 1:42 to play in the third. The Sycamores chipped away though, as they made two free throws to cut the lead to seven before Tamara Lee's half-court heave at the buzzer found nothing but net to cut SIU's advantage down to four.
In the fourth, Indiana State got to within one thanks to a three-point play by Kierra Isiah. Rachel Pudlowski's first three-ball of the season gave SIU breathing room and a layup by Kristen Nelson extended Southern's lead to six, 51-45, with 8:01 to play. Indiana State continued to hang around though, thanks in part to SIU shooting just 28.5% (4-of-14) from the field in the fourth, including just 1-of-5 from behind the arc.The Salukis also had several chances late to put the game away but were unable to convert. Indiana State took the lead for good with :42 seconds to play on a lay-in by Ty Battle.
"We've been harping on our free throws all along and if we make those free throws we win the game," Stein said. "If we make the four layups in the fourth quarter we win the game. We didn't close it out. We have to get better there."
Martin had a career night for the Salukis in the loss. The junior forward played a career-high 39 minutes and responded with a career-best 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go along with six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. It marks the fourth time this season, and the seventh time in her career, that the Jefferson City, Mo. native has scored 20-plus points.
"Nicole is playing really well," Stein said. "She's playing really hard and wants the ball. She's doing whatever she can. I felt like she was pretty solid the entire night. She could've probably had a couple more rebounds but (Indiana State) was doing a good job keeping her off the boards. They challenged every shot so for her to have 26 points is pretty amazing because she was a lot of their concentration on defense."
Kristen Nelson chipped in 13 points, four assists and a steal in a career-high 37 minutes, while Makenzie Silvey reached double figures for the 11th time this season. Silvey finished with 10 points, tied her career-high with five assists and added five steals.
The Salukis return to action on Jan. 13 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on the Missouri State Lady Bears. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
Team Stats
INS
SIU
FG%
.355
.400
3FG%
.273
.267
FT%
.778
.588
RB
43
33
TO
17
13
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
3
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
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