SIU women’s basketball drops road matchup to SIUE
Senior forward Kim Nebo gets the ball knocked out of her hands during the Salukis’ 70-63 win against Murray State on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, at SIU Arena. (Sean Carley | @SCarleyDE)
November 24, 2016
SIU was unable to complete the basketball sweep of its sister school as the women’s team lost to SIUE on Wednesday.
The lead changed hands five times and neither team held a lead larger than eight in the Cougars’ 60-59 victory.
The score was knotted up at 54 with less than two minutes to go before SIUE went on a 5-0 run that the Salukis could not recover from.
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SIU struggled to get the ball in the basket and only three players were able to make more than one field goal.
The Saluki defense kept the team in the game, limiting SIUE to make only 32.3 percent of its shots. SIUC actually shot the ball better, at 37.5 percent.
The game started off with long runs by both teams. The Salukis were ahead 10-2 before a 16-4 Cougar run gave them an 18-14 lead after the first quarter.
For almost a six-minute span at the end of the second quarter, neither team made a basket. The only points scored were a pair of free throws from Cougar sophomore guard Lauren White.
Senior forward Kim Nebo (10) and junior guard Kylie Giebelhausen (6) scored nearly 70 percent of SIU’s first half points. They would end up being the only Salukis in double-figures with 19 and 17, respectively.
SIU would catch fire to start the third, making seven straight shots to open the period.
SIUE was able to stay with the Salukis because of its 12-shot advantage from the free-throw stripe. The Cougars made 10 free throws in the third quarter alone and 18 for the game.
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The Salukis could not keep its sister school off the offensive glass in the third quarter either, allowing eight SIUE offensive rebounds.
It was an advantage the Cougars had all night with 19 total offensive rebounds to SIU’s eight.
Senior guard Rishonda Napier had her third straight game with only one field goal made, going 1-7 on the night, including missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute.
SIU will try to get back in the win column with a matchup at 2 p.m. Saturday against NAIA Brescia University in SIU Arena.
Sports editor Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @SCarleyDE.
To stay up to date with all your SIU basketball news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.
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