Southern Illinois University
9-5,1-2MVC
University of Northern Iowa
9-4,1-1MVC
Women’s Basketball’s comeback falls short in 60-57 loss to UNI
01/10/2020 | 9:35:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team had two chances to tie the game with :10 seconds to play in regulation, but neither went down as the Salukis fell to the Northern Iowa Panthers, 60-57 inside the Banterra Center Friday night.
Southern used five-straight points by Makenzie Silvey to trim an eight point deficit (60-52) down to three with :24 seconds to play. After UNI missed two free throws with :21 seconds left, Silvey got a clean look from the top of the key with :10 to play in regulation that clanged off the back iron.
"We had a screen rescreen," seventh-year head coach Cindy Stein said of Silvey's shot. "Gabby Walker did a great job of reading that action. We got a great look at it but just couldn't get it to fall."
UNI once again left the door open for Southern to comeback missed two more freebies, but SIU's desperation heave at the buzzer fell just short.
Southern struggled offensively for much of the contest. The Salukis missed their first six shots and found themselves down by double-digits after the first seven minutes of play.
SIU turned to its reserves to get them back into the game in the second quarter and they responded with 14 of SIU's 26 second quarter points. Payton McCallister led the way with six second quarter points, while Caitlin Link added five and Gabby Walker chipped in three. The Salukis outscored the Panthers, 26-to-16, in the frame and led 35-33 at the half.
"I felt like our defense was pretty solid today," Stein said. "I thought we had good play coming off the bench that helped us get back in the game in the first half."
Southern's offensive woes returned in the third quarter, as SIU shot just 2-for-11 from the field in the frame and UNI outscored SIU, 18-to-9, to build a 51-44 lead after three quarters. The Salukis got to within three on two occasions in the fourth, but couldn't come all the way back.
The Salukis, who shot 40% or better in all 11 of its non-conference games to open the season, have yet to reach that mark in league play. Southern shot a season-low 32.2% (19-of-59) from the field in the loss to the Panthers and to make matters worse, the Salukis converted just 54.2% (13-of-24) of their free throw attempts.
"I'm disappointed in our offense," Stein said. "Im disappointed in our execution of our plays and our lack of attention to detail. I'm also disappointed in our free throw shooting. Free throw shooting has been killing us the past few games and if you look at our losses, if we hit free throws we win those games. Our team has to decide whether that means something to them. It's too early in conference play to freak out but we need to step up and do something about our free throw shooting and our lack of execution offensively."
Southern was led in scoring by Silvey, who finished with 10 points and three assists. Both Abby Brockmeyer and Nicole Martin were a point shy of double-doubles, as Brockmeyer finished with nine points and a season-high 13 rebounds while Martin tallied nine points and a season-best 11 boards. Brittney Patrick added eight points, three blocks and two assists.
The Salukis will need to regroup quickly as preseason favorite Drake comes to town on Sunday for a 2 p.m. showdown.
"Its too early to panic," Stein said. "We need to concentrate on Drake. Drake is a great team and we need to regroup and refocus."
