Southern Illinois University
5-2,0-0MVC
University of Tennessee at Martin
2-5,0-0OVC
Salukis pull away from Skyhawks in fourth quarter for 70-59 win
12/03/2019 | 9:40:00 | Women's Basketball
Southern has now won three-straight, and four of its last five, after Tuesday night’s victory.
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team picked up its third-straight win Tuesday night, as the Salukis pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the UT Martin Skyhawks, 70-59, inside Banterra Center.
The Salukis (5-2) and the Skyhawks (2-5) were deadlocked at 46-all heading into the fourth quarter before Southern caught fire. The Salukis shot 57.1-percent from the floor in the fourth while holding the Skyhawks to 25.0-percent shooting from the field. In doing so, Southern outscored UT Martin, 24-to-13 in the stanza to seal the win.
"We didn't take care of the ball like we wanted to, we didn't rebound like we wanted to and we didn't make our free throws like we wanted to," seventh year head coach Cindy Stein said. "But we won. We are going to take this W and run. It was a defensive game- who was going to stop who- and that's what it came down to."
UT Martin used its length to its advantage in the third quarter, as it held Southern to just 21.4-percent shooting and forced six Saluki turnovers to tie the contest 46-all heading into the fourth. The Salukis finally cracked the Skyhawks' 1-3-1 zone in the fourth, as they used crisp ball movement to find the gaps, which resulted in seven assists on eight field goals.
"We started to finally cut and find the gaps in the zone," Makenzie Silvey said of Southern's fourth quarter. "A lot of times we were getting stagnant and standing so our ball movement wasn't there. Once we started to cut and find the gaps, our ball movement was there and it usually led to pretty good shots for us."
Kristen Nelson was the main beneficiary of SIU's increased ball movement in the fourth, as she scored nine of her season-high 14 points in the fourth quarter on an efficient 3-of-4 shooting, which included 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
"In the first half I wasn't really looking to score, I was just trying to make the right pass," Nelson said. "In the second half, my teammates started to find me in open spots and I hit them."
Nelson was one of four Salukis to score in double figures. Makenzie Silvey tallied her fourth 20-point output of the season, as she scored 20 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Abby Brockmeyer added 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while Nicole Martin chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block.
Southern used an 18-0 run during the first and second quarters to turn a seven-point deficit (15-8) into a double-digit lead (26-15). The Salukis led by nine, 36-27, at the half before the Skyhawks used a 19-10 advantage in the third to tie the contest at 46-all.
Southern turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth and gave up more points at the free throw line (7) than it did from the field (6) in the period. Southern's depth was key to being able to turn up the pressure in the fourth, as nine Salukis played, which included big minutes from Gabby Walker, Awa Keita and Caitlin Link that helped spark Southern's final push.
"We got stops and we also pushed the ball up the floor," Stein said of SIU's fourth quarter. "We wanted to get the ball up the floor quickly and take good shots. I felt like our conditioning looked good. We were wearing on them a little bit. We wanted to make them run the floor hard every possession and then squeeze out a win."
Southern will look to run its win streak to four on Saturday when it travels to Southeast Missouri to take on the Redhawks. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
