Southern Illinois University
8-15,5-13MVC
University of Northern Iowa
14-11,11-7MVC
Panthers earn wire-to-wire win over Salukis
03/06/2021 | 7:24:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Northern Iowa Panthers led from start to finish in a 64-41 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis Saturday evening inside Banterra Center.
The Panthers opened the contest on a 9-2 run, led by 11 at the half and scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to open up a 40-20 lead with just under four minutes to play in the third. In total, UNI outscored SIU, 22-8 in the third quarter and put the game to bed in the fourth to seal the series sweep.
"I think we ran out of gas," eighth-year head coach Cindy Stein said. "We've got a lot of kids who have played a lot of minutes recently, between Gabby, Makenzie, Adrianna, Caitlin and Rachel- they've played a lot of minutes and that showed this weekend. We couldn't get a spark off the bench that we needed and you can't put that pressure on the bench because they haven't been in those situations."
The Panthers shot 52.1-percent (25-of-48) from the field and UNI's stout defense tallied eight blocks while it held the Salukis to 27.6-percent (16-of-58) shooting from the field.
Southern's offense never found its rhythm, as the Salukis turned the ball over 10 times and were held to just 2-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
The Salukis were led by Makenzie Silvey, who finished with 10 points and two steals. Allea Potter tied her career-high with eight points off the bench while Gabby Walker chipped in seven points.
The Panthers won the battle of the boards, 39-to-31, with just four of their rebounds coming on the offensive glass. The Salukis did force 15 UNI turnovers and came away with eight steals.
The Salukis will now turn their attention to the 2021 MVC Tournament, where they will face the Indiana State Sycamores in Thursday's No. 8 vs. No. 9 game. Missouri State awaits the winner of SIU and Indiana State's game on Friday. Thursday's matchup with the Sycamores will mark the return of Abby Brockmeyer, who hasn't played since Jan. 31.
"We've got to work out some of the kinks offensively before Moline," Stein said. "But I'm very encouraged about Moline because we are getting closer to being where we want to be with our substitution patterns and we will get Abby Brockmeyer back as well."
