Salukis Earn Wire-to-Wire Win Over Redbirds In First-Place Battle
02/20/2022 | 8:54:00 | Women's Basketball
NORMAL, Ill.— The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team entered Sunday's game against the Illinois State Redbirds with a half-game lead over their opponents atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings. A 65-49 wire-to-wire win secured the Salukis' spot in the Valley with just four games to go in the regular season.
A Makenzie Silvey three-pointer on the first possession of the ballgame set the tone, and Southern would lead for the remaining 39 minutes and 41 seconds in the contest.
"It was a really tough, gritty game today," said head coach Cindy Stein. "I'm just proud of our team; I thought we started off the game very well."
The Salukis were led offensively by Abby Brockmeyer, whose 21 point, 12 rebound performance netted her an MVC-leading twelfth double-double. Brockmeyer was coming off of a 15 rebound game on Friday that saw her become just the third Saluki all-time to reach 1,000 career rebounds.
"I've been saying this from the get-go: if Abby is not the player of the year for the conference, then I don't know who is," said Stein. "That kid has been averaging a double-double, and that's with Makenzie and Gabby putting in double digits as well. It's not like we're throwing it all to Abby. She's definitely worthy of that honor."
Three other Salukis also scored in double figures, with Silvey scoring 13 points and grabbing five boards. Joining Silvey and Brockmeyer were Gabby Walker and Quierra Love with 10 points each. Love also dished out a game-high four assists.
Southern held Illinois State to just 15 first half points, a season-low for the Redbirds. Illinois State entered the game averaging nearly 70 points per game. The Salukis also scored 13 points off of Illinois State turnovers in the contest.
SIU currently sits in first place in the MVC, leading Missouri State by one game and Illinois State by 1.5 games.
The Salukis return to Banterra Center later this week for their final homestand of the season, starting with a 6 p.m. Thursday matchup with Indiana State.
A Makenzie Silvey three-pointer on the first possession of the ballgame set the tone, and Southern would lead for the remaining 39 minutes and 41 seconds in the contest.
"It was a really tough, gritty game today," said head coach Cindy Stein. "I'm just proud of our team; I thought we started off the game very well."
The Salukis were led offensively by Abby Brockmeyer, whose 21 point, 12 rebound performance netted her an MVC-leading twelfth double-double. Brockmeyer was coming off of a 15 rebound game on Friday that saw her become just the third Saluki all-time to reach 1,000 career rebounds.
"I've been saying this from the get-go: if Abby is not the player of the year for the conference, then I don't know who is," said Stein. "That kid has been averaging a double-double, and that's with Makenzie and Gabby putting in double digits as well. It's not like we're throwing it all to Abby. She's definitely worthy of that honor."
Three other Salukis also scored in double figures, with Silvey scoring 13 points and grabbing five boards. Joining Silvey and Brockmeyer were Gabby Walker and Quierra Love with 10 points each. Love also dished out a game-high four assists.
Southern held Illinois State to just 15 first half points, a season-low for the Redbirds. Illinois State entered the game averaging nearly 70 points per game. The Salukis also scored 13 points off of Illinois State turnovers in the contest.
SIU currently sits in first place in the MVC, leading Missouri State by one game and Illinois State by 1.5 games.
The Salukis return to Banterra Center later this week for their final homestand of the season, starting with a 6 p.m. Thursday matchup with Indiana State.
Team Stats
SIU
ISU
FG%
.438
.391
3FG%
.353
.231
FT%
.810
.909
RB
32
22
TO
13
14
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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