Jan. 5, 2008
CARBONDALE, Ill. -
Southern Illinois leads Illinois State, 42-39, at halftime of the Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game at SIU Arena on Saturday, Jan. 5. The Salukis erased an eight-point deficit with a 21-6 run midway through the half, utilizing a scoring drought by the Redbirds. It is just the third time this season that the Redbirds have trailed at halftime. Junior guard Kristi Cirone leads the Redbirds with 15 points and sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey has added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Redbirds jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first four minutes with some pretty passing, picking up assists on six of their first eight baskets. Hudson picked up two of those assists to Cirone on a three-pointer and a layup under the basket. Saluki forward Jasmine Gibson scored made her first three shots to provide six of the SIU points.
Down by eight, 21-13, Southern Illinois opened up a 21-6 run to take its first lead of the game, 34-27, with just under seven minutes left in the half. Southern Illinois rattled off 11-unanswered points during a four-minute stretch when the Redbirds missed five shots and committed five turnovers.
Cirone snapped the scoreless drought with a hard drive to the basket and a layup through two Saluki defenders at the 4:55 mark; and started a 10-2 Redbird run to regain the lead, 37-36. Cirone added four free throws during the spurt. Four-straight free throws by the Salukis put them back on top, 40-37, with two minutes remaining. The two teams traded baskets to close out the half and Southern Illinois maintained a three-point advantage at intermission, 42-39.
