Southern Illinois University
9-15,5-13MVC
Indiana State University
5-15,2-12MVC
Salukis advance to MVC Tournament Quarterfinals with overtime win over Indiana State
03/11/2021 | 8:48:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit with seven minutes to play in regulation to knock off the Indiana State Sycamores in overtime, 90-89, to advance to tomorrow's MVC Tournament quarterfinals against the top-seeded Missouri State Lady Bears.
"I don't think anyone was excited about our defense today, but we survived," head coach Cindy Stein said. "Our ball movement was better today but we've got to do a better job on the offensive glass. We let them have too many offensive rebounds. When we held them to one-shot possessions, we played a lot better defense. But our kids gritted it out. Things didn't always go our way but we didn't give up hope and we kept fighting. I'm proud of our kids for being able to get the win today."
In what was the highest scoring game in MVC Tournament history, the Salukis got the stops it needed down the stretch to seal the win. Southern also got some big shots from All-MVC First Team selection Makenzie Silvey, who scored nine of SIU's 15 points in overtime. Silvey, who entered the fourth with just seven points, scored 16 of her 23 points from the fourth quarter on.
In the extra frame, Silvey drained back-to-back threes to turn a 79-all game into a six-point advantage for SIU with less than two minutes to play and forced Indiana State into scramble mode.
"Makenzie comes to play every single game," Stein said. "We're so excited to have her as part of our team. She made great reads. They face guarded her some of the time and we had to find a way to get her open. Our kids did a great job of sharing the ball."
But while Makenzie was the catalyst of Southern's victory, it was a complete team effort. The Salukis had five players score in double figures, dished out 24 assists on 36 made baskets and shot a season-high 57.1-percent from the field (36-of-63).
Gabby Walker scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shootiong to go along with seven boards and five assists. Quierra Love tallied a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Abby Brockmeyer chipped in 12 points in her first game back since Jan. 31. Caitlin Link poured in 12 points, with no basket bigger than her fadeaway jumper that tied the score at 79-all. Rachel Pudlowski almost made it six in double figures, as she finished with eight points and a career-best five assists.
Pudlowksi was also instrumental in slowing down Indiana State's Jasmine Elder, who scored 18 of her game high 31 points in the first half but was held without a basket in the overtime period.
"Caitlin Link came up with a big shot at the end as well," Stein said. "Gabby Walker came up with some key rebounds and shots. Rachel Pudlowski played outstanding defense on Jasmine Elder when we didn't have an answer for her. Rachel did a good job of stalling that out. Different kids stepped up and it was a great team win."
SIU trailed by two at the end of the first, 23-21 but the Salukis outscored the Sycamores, 21-11 in a second quarter in which they made 75.0-percent (9-of-12) of its attempts from the floor to go ahead by eight at the half.
The Sycamores answered by outscoring SIU, 23-12 in the third quarter to take a three-point lead into the fourth. Indiana State shot 62.5-percent from the field in the stanza while SIU could only cash in on 38.5-percent (5-of-13) of its attempts in the period.
After Indiana State increased its lead to nine, 68-59 with seven minutes to play, Southern's defense clamped down which allowed the Salukis to rip off 10-straight points to take a one-point lead with 3:42 to play. From there, SIU trailed just once (4:35 to play in overtime).
"We tried to change our defense up a little bit," Stein said of the SIU's fourth quarter defense. "We wanted to give them more of a helter skelter look to keep them off balance. We wanted to get combinations out on the floor that could all guard on the perimeter. They played four guards for so much of the game that it made us change how we were going to defend. It went back and forth- there were times that they had to worry about our two bigs inside and then we had to worry about their four guards on the outside. So it was kind of a trade off and we were fortunate to get the win."
The Salukis return to action tomorrow at 11 a.m. when they take on the No. 19-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears.
NOTES: 54 of SIU's 90 points came in the paint … Southern's 90 points were is most since Feb. 23, 2020 when the Salukis defeated Evansville, 99-60 … three of the four times that Southern has shot over 50-percent from the field this season has come against the Sycamores … three of the six times that SIU has dished out 20-plus assists this season have come against Indiana State … Southern had five players score in double figures for the first time since Nov. 8, 2019 at SIUE … Walker (5), Pudlowski (5) and Silvey (5) became the first Saluki trio to dish out five-plus assists in the same game since Nov. 23, 2018 (vs. Hartford) … Southern's win Thursday was its first this season when it was out-rebounded by its opponent (1-8) … first win at the conference tournament since March 9, 2018 when the Salukis rallied to defeat Indiana State, 69-67.
