Terica Hathaway scored 20 points and Jodi Heiden had a career-high 18 to lead Southern Illinois past Illinois State 70-55 in Missouri Valley Conference womens basketball Saturday at SIU Arena.
Southern Illinois, 5-13, 2-7, scored the final 11 points of the game, all from the free throw line, to pull away from the Redbirds, who missed their last 11 field goal attempts after hitting 11 of 19 in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Jaci McCormack led the Redbirds with 13 points and
Kellie Johnson added 10.
Redbird head coach
Jenny Yopp praised her teams defense.
Our defense was pretty solid, said Yopp. Offensively, we executed better and got the shots we were looking for, but, in the second half, they just wouldnt fall for us.
Illinois State, 4-14, 2-7, saw the game get away in the second half as the Salukis took advantage of repeated trips to the free throw line in the second half, hitting 18 of 20 to ISUs 4 of 6. SIU was whistled fro just five second-half fouls to ISUs 15. SIU broke a six-game losing streak by scoring the last 11 points of the game and holding ISU scoreless the final 4:35.
The Salukis looked like a confident, talented and capable team, said Yopp, whose team comes home to face Wichita State on Thursday and No. 14 Southwest Missouri State on Saturday. Our young team is challenged to stay resilient and confident game-to-game.
SIU won the battle of the boards 39-34 led by Kristine Abramowskis nine.
Steph Reichle and Johnson had seven each for ISU. Reichle added a fine floor game with six assists, two steals and a block. She also pressured SIU ballhandlers into three more miscues.
The Birds started fast, making six of their first nine shots, including a pair of treys by Johnson, while taking a 14-4 lead eight minutes into the game. Southern made just two of its first 13 shots against the Redbirds match-up defense.
But ISUs offense went cold and SIU started hitting the offensive boards, finally pulling to a 19-19 tie with 5:15 left in the half on Hathaways baseline jumper. The teams traded baskets until Mollie McDowell drilled a jumper with 2:48 left to give SIU a 25-23 lead. The Salukis stretched that lead to 32-28 at the intermission. Hathaway had all 10 of her first-half points in the final eight minutes of the half.
After its hot spell, ISU made just 6 of 17 from the field. Following SIUs cold-shooting start, the Salukis made 12 of 20 in the final 12 minutes.
Six straight points early in the second half shot SIUs lead to 38-30 at the 17:38 mark, including a pair of Hathaway jumpers. SIU held a 44-36 advantage when Johnson and
Sharon Blade scored inside on back-to-back trips, and Johnson added a long two-pointer to cut the lead to 44-42 with 10:10 left.
The teams exchanged baskets with SIU maintaining a two-to-five point lead over the next five minutes until Hathaway drained an off-balance jumper to extend the Saluki lead to 59-53 with 4:32 left.
McCormack answered with a pair of free throws and Reichle forced a turnover on the next SIU possession. ISU missed two free throws and after three offensive rebounds, couldnt convert three more shots. A foul on the fourth rebound put Holly Teague on the line, where she hit two free throws with 2:35 left to put SIU ahead 61-55.
Teagues next two foul shots and two more by Hathaway put the game away for SIU.
