Southern Illinois University
5-8,2-6MVC
Illinois State University
9-3,6-3MVC
Salukis fall to Redbirds, 57-50
02/05/2021 | 7:52:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Illinois State Redbirds escaped Banterra Center with a hard-fought 57-50 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis in Missouri Valley Conference play Friday night.
After leading by five at the half, the Salukis sputtered offensively with seven minutes to go in the third, as the Redbirds closed the frame on an 11-2 run to turn an eight-point deficit (39-31) into a one-point lead (42-41). Southern regained the lead briefly on a three-pointer by Caitlin Link with 3:41 to play in regulation, but Illinois State scored seven of the game's final 10 points to seal the win.
"It was a tough and emotional game," eighth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "I thought we played real gritty and our defense played tough. I think our problems came at the offensive end. We rushed some plays and didn't execute like we would have liked to. We're better than this but I know this is a game we really wanted and our kids played their hearts out for. We've got to learn from this and be better tomorrow."
The shorthanded Salukis, playing without their leading scorer in each of the past three games in Abby Brockmeyer, went toe-to-toe with the Redbirds throughout an exciting first half of play. Southern shot 46.1% (12-for-26) from the field in the half, which included 66.7% (8-of-12) in the first stanza to build a 32-27 lead at the break.
Foul trouble, however, reversed Southern's fortunes in the second half. After Rachel Pudlowski and Gabby Walker both drew their third fouls early in the third quarter, SIU was forced to use an unfamiliar rotation that most notably saw Makenzie Silvey play in the high post. With players playing out of position, Southern's ball movement and execution wasn't as crisp and it showed- the Salukis shot just 21-percent (6-of-28) from the field in the second half, which included 15-percent (2-of-13) from behind the arc.
"We got into foul trouble and we had to play some kids out of position so the execution of our offense didn't run as smoothy," Stein said. "We also didn't have as many reps in practice with that rotation that we were forced to use and it definitely threw things off because of it."
The Redbirds did just enough down the stretch to seal the victory. Illinois State shot 50-percent (4-of-8) from the field in the fourth quarter and held SIU to just 20-percent (3-of-15) from the floor during the period. Juliunn Redmond led all scorers with 22 points on 57-percent shooting.
Southern played a relatively clean game despite the foul trouble. SIU turned over Illinois State 14 times and turned those 14 turnovers in 16 points. Meanwhile, the Salukis turned the ball over just 11 times, and shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
Makenzie Silvey led the way with 12 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. Rachel Pudlowski and Payton McCallister each chipped in nine points while Gabby Walker added eight points and three rebounds.
The Salukis are back in action tomorrow when they close out the series against the Redbirds at 4 p.m.
