Southern Illinois University
1-1,0-0MVC
IUPUI
2-0,0-0Horizon
Salukis fall at the buzzer at IUPUI, 81-78
11/12/2019 | 10:14:00 | Women's Basketball
After Salukis claw back, Jaguars win on a lay-in as time expires.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team hung tough with the IUPUI Jaguars and tied the game at 78-all on a runner in the lane by Kristen Nelson with 1.3 seconds to play, but IUPUI's Rachel McLimore went up and under for a lay-in as time expired to give the Jaguars the win.
The Salukis (1-1) trailed by as many as 10 in the first quarter and were down nine, 74-65 with 6:25 to play in the contest. Southern scored nine-straight points over the next three minutes to tie the contest at 74-all against a IUPUI program that has made three-straight WNIT appearances and advanced to the postseason in six of the last seven years.
"We weren't real sharp the whole game, to be honest," seventh-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "For us to even be battling at the end is a credit to our team for continuing to work hard. IUPUI is a real good team. Things weren't going our way and we had to keep making adjustments. I felt like our kids kept working at it and we got some pieces to go to tie the game back up. They made a great offensive play on us at the end of the game and unfortunately the shot went down."
After IUPUI pushed its lead back to four with 1:33 to play, a baseline jumper by Makenzie Silvey got SIU to within two. With six seconds to play and IUPUI set to inbound the ball, Brittney Patrick drew an off-ball foul that got Southern the ball back. Kristen Nelson took the ensuing inbounds pass and went straight to the rack to tie the game at 78-all with 1.3 left to play. But IUPUI had the last laugh, as McLImore's three-point play as time expired gave the Jaguars the win.
"If we played disciplined the way we should have, we wouldn't have been down by 10," Stein said. "We played from behind because we made a lot of mistakes we shouldn't of made with a veteran team like we have. We have to clean up the mistakes."
Three Salukis scored in double figures, led by Makenzie Silvey. Silvey finished with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and three steals. 11 of Silvey's 17 points came in the second half. Nicole Martin and Abby Brockmeyer each added 12 points.
Nine different Salukis scored in the contest, including nine points off the bench for Nelson. Payton McCallister added eight points and three boards, while Awa Keita tallied seven points, four rebounds and a steal in 15 minutes.
The Salukis shot 50% (31-of-62) from the field for the second-straight game and made 80% (12-of-15) of their free throws. IUPUI, conversely, made 56.6% (30-of-53) of its field goal attempts, including 81.8% (18-of-22) of its free throw attempts.
Southern won the rebounding battle, 31-to-25, including a 15-to-8 edge on the offensive glass. The Salukis scored 42 of their 78 points in the paint and SIU's bench outscored IUPUI's reserves, 31-to-22.
The Salukis are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 16 when they host Tennessee Tech at 2 p.m. inside Banterra Center. Parking for Saturday's contest will be in Lot 56 (the Physical Plant parking lot) unless fans have a men's basketball parking pass. A shuttle to transport fans from Lot 56 to the Banterra Center will be provided.
