Women's Basketball takes down McKendree
11/05/2022 | 5:24:00 | Women's Basketball
SIU starts season Nov. 12 against Middle Tennessee
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois Women's Basketball took care of business in their lone exhibition game on Saturday when the Salukis took down Division II foe McKendree University inside the Banterra Center. Â
The Salukis used a balanced attack as five players finished in double figures in the 92-57 win over the Bearcats.Â
Southern's 92 points are its most in a game since the first round of the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament when it beat Indiana State 90-89 in overtime.Â
"It took a while to get some of the jitters out," Coach Kelly Bond-White said. "I think the starters came out with good energy. We executed, kept the turnovers down early."
The Salukis jumped out to a 21-15 after one but the Bearcats, much like they did against Bradley on Thursday, continued to battle throughout the first half.Â
Southern led 42-31 at the break and never looked back at the offense exploded for 29 points in the third en route to outscoring McKendree 50-26 in the second half.Â
From the field, SIU shot 40-of-75 (53.3%) and was 5-of-21 from beyond the arc. At the line, Southern was just 7-of-14.Â
Ashley Jones and Laniah Randle led the Salukis as each finished with 13 points to pace SIU. Quierra Love (11 points), Tyranny Brown (11 points) and Promise Taylor (10 points) all finished with double digits for SIU.Â
Taylor added eight rebounds while Randle pulled down six boards, both tallied three on the offensive end. Love dished out six assists in the win with Taylor swatting four Bearcat shows and altering several more.
Naomi McDaniel led McKendree with 12 points and seven rebounds while Maci Meyer added 10 points, including going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.Â
Southern starts the regular season Nov. 12 at home against Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders went all the way to the finals of the Women's NIT a year ago and were picked to win the C-USA in the preseason poll where they had 9-of-11 first-place votes.Â
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_WBasketball, on Instagram at @SIU_WBasketball and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
