Salukis Defeat Panthers in Exhibition - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Thursday, October 22

Carbondale, IL

6 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-0,0-0MVC

Kentucky Wesleyan

-00,00 GMAC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Ky. Wesleyan	13	20	9	16	58
Southern Ill.	27	17	24	12	80

Photo by: Josh Benjamin

10/22/2026 | 8:53:00 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Corey Crombar, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki Women's Basketball team defeated the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers in their preseason exhibition on Thursday at the Banterra Center.

The Salukis got off to a slow start in the exhibition, quickly falling behind 9-3. But it was the only deficit the Salukis faced all game. After falling behind early, the Salukis ended the first quarter on a 24-4 run, ending the first quarter with a score of 27-13. The highlight of the quarter for the Salukis was their aggressiveness on the ball, forcing several turnovers and capitalizing on them. Southern scored 18 points off Panther turnovers in the first quarter alone.

The second quarter is where the most even basketball was played. The Panthers outscored the Dawgs 20-17 in quarter two, but were unable to overcome the scoring run the Salukis had to close out the first. The end of the first half saw plenty of lineup changes for both teams. In turn, the Panthers had 12 bench points in the second quarter. At the end of the first half, Southern led 44-33.

The second half opened up with Saluki dominance. SIU had an incredible presence in the paint in quarter three, scoring 14 points in the paint. Not only that, the rebounding, both offensive and defensive, had put the Panthers up against a wall. The Dawgs came out of the locker room with their foot on the gas and never let up. The Salukis outscored the Panthers 24-9 in quarter three, giving them a comfortable 68-42 lead.

The fourth and final quarter saw more level basketball between the two sides. Both teams, once again, tried a few different lineup combinations in preparation for the regular season. Once again for the Panthers, the bench shined in quarter four, with 10 of the 16 Panther points coming off the bench. Despite outscoring SIU 16-12, the 26-point deficit was not enough for Kentucky Wesleyan to overcome. Southern defeated the Panthers by a final score of 80-58.

UP NEXT
The Salukis open up regular season play with a contest against the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars. The game will take place on Tuesday, November 3 at 6 p.m. at the Banterra Center.

SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets are on sale now! Visit saluk.is/wbbseasontickets for more information. For ticket inquiries, call 618-453-2000.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
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.