Southern Illinois University
3-1,0-0MVC
Kansas City
3-3,0-0Summit League
Salukis pull away from Roos for third-straight win
12/17/2020 | 9:35:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team picked up its third-straight win Thursday night, as the Salukis disposed of the Kansas City Roos, 79-68 inside Banterra Center.
Southern's offense clicked from the start, as the Salukis raced out to an 18-5 lead after the first five minutes of play. Kansas City eventually answered with a 15-2 spurt of its own to take a 27-24 lead after two minutes of play in the second quarter. SIU kicked it back up a notch and closed out the half on a 13-2 run to build a 39-31 advantage at the half. From there, the Salukis were in control for the remainder of the contest and never trailed.
"I'm so proud of this team," head coach Cindy Stein said. "This has been a tough week. We were coming off a good weekend, we were on kind of a high and we were just about to get on the road and our game (at UT Martin) got canceled. It has been such an emotional roller coaster and our kids are hanging in there and hanging tough. We had to battle today. Kansas City is a great team and they weren't going to go away quietly. They made us better because of their scrappiness. We had to step up and make plays, offensively and defensively, and our kids did that. I can't say enough about Makenzie and Abby-they both had tremendous games."
The Salukis had four score in double figures, led by Abby Brockmeyer and Makenzie Silvey. Silvey led all scorers with a season-high 24 points while Abby Brockmeyer tallied 23 points on an efficient 9-of-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Quierra Love and Gabby Walker each added 10 points.
And while SIU's seniors did much of the heavy lifting, Southern got contributions throughout its lineup, most notably from Payton McCallister. McCallister barely came off the floor, as she set career-highs in assists (7), steals (6) and minutes played (38) in the win.
"If I had to give a Player of the Game award, I would give it Payton McCallister," Stein said. "I don't remember taking her off the floor because defensively she was doing such a great job for us."
The Salukis moved the ball with precision, as they dished out a season-high 22 assists on 28 field goals. Three Salukis- McCallister (7), Brockmeyer (5) and Silvey (5)- finished with five-plus assists, which marked the first time since Nov. 23, 2018 that SIU had three players with five or more assists.
"When we continue to move the ball, make the unselfish pass and have good spacing we do some really good things," Stein said.
Defensively, Southern made Kansas City work for all of their shots. The Roos, who came in averaging 9.6 three-pointers made and 25.6 three-pointers attempted per contest, were held to just 6-of-18 from behind the arc.
"What makes Kansas City good is that if you don't guard dribble penetration very well, they'll kill you," Stein said. "If you don't guard the three very well, they will kill you. With our length, we were able to challenge some of the 1-on-1 inside. They were able to get some threes off on us because of defensive miscommunications. They keep you on your toes."
The Roos, who won the WAC a year ago before moving to The Summit League over the summer, are the second would-be 2020 NCAA Tournament team that SIU has knocked off this season. Southern defeated the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Champion SEMO Redhawks, 67-51 on Dec. 13.
The Salukis are back in action on Sunday, Dec. 20 when they travel to Columbia, Mo. to take on the Missouri Tigers. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m.
NOTES: Quierra Love has played 30-plus minutes in three-straight games … Love reached double figures for the second time in four games and tied her career-high with three steals … SIU's first 3-1 start since 2017-18 season … SIU hasn't started 4-1 since 2014-15 season … just the fifth 20-plus point scoring output for Brockmeyer and her first since 12/21/18 against IUPUI … McCallister set career-bests in assists (7) and steals (5) … Silvey posted her first 20-plus point effort of the season and 14th of her career … first time since 12/15/19 (vs. Murray State) that SIU has had two players score 20-plus points in the same game.
