Southern Illinois University
8-11,5-9MVC
Missouri State University
16-2,12-0MVC
Salukis fall to Lady Bears, 67-55
02/24/2021 | 9:20:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The No. 19 Missouri State Lady Bears (16-2, 12-0 MVC) closed the second quarter with ten-straight points to build a double-digit lead it never relinquished in a 67-55 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis Wednesday night inside Banterra Center.
The shorthanded Salukis (8-11, 5-9), who played just eight players and were without Abby Brockmeyer for the seventh-straight game, trailed by just seven at the end of the first quarter and battled to get its deficit down to five, 26-21 with 3:52 to play in the second quarter. Missouri State flipped a switch, as it ripped off 10-straight points to take a 36-21 lead into the half. Southern got to within 10, twice, lastly with :42 to play in the fourth, but that as close as the Salukis could get.
"We got away from the game plan too much in the first half," eighth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "We talked to our kids at halftime about that and refocused them but we need to do a better job of staying locked in. It was the little things that did us in. But it took us a while to adjust to their speed because we don't go up against that type of speed in practice. Sometimes it takes us a bit to get use to it and once we do we can settle down pretty good. In the second half, I felt like we settled down and understood what we needed to do better."
With the win, the Lady Bears clinched their second-straight MVC regular season title. Missouri State knocked down its first five three-pointers in the contest and were 6-of-8 (75%) from downtown in the first half. But Southern clamped down from there, as they held the Lady Bears to just 1-of-6 (16%) from three-point range for the rest of the contest.
"Missouri State got a couple of open threes because we had some miscues on defense," Stein said. "Once we got back to our defensive assignments, I didn't see as many open looks for them in the second half. I felt like we got better today especially during the course of the game- which is what we ask of our team right now."
Gabby Walker and Makenzie Silvey led the way for the Salukis. Walker was in her element, as the game's physical nature allowed her to take control of the paint. She finished with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes of work. Makenzie Silvey scored nine of her 14 points in the second half, as she had to fight through double teams for much of the first half. The Glen Carbon, Ill. native also tallied six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes.
Southern's defensive effort was stellar, as it forced 15 turnovers- the third-most for Missouri State in a Valley game this season- and came away with seven steals. The Salukis also turned the ball over just nine times.
"Im real proud of our effort," Stein said. "I thought our effort all night was outstanding, especially defensively. It's been the same problem that we've had- we have to find another player who can score consistently. Makenzie and Gabby did everything they could. We had some good looks but some shots didn't go down. Sometimes that's just how it goes. I'm proud of our effort but disappointed in the loss."
The Salukis return to action this weekend when it hosts Valparaiso for a pair of MVC contests. Tip-off on both Saturday and Sunday is set for 4 p.m.
