A fan summed up the outlook for the SIU women’s basketball team shortly after the Salukis took down Division II Quincy University 72-57 in an exhibition game Friday night.

“[The fan] said, ‘Wow, you guys didn’t take near as many bad shots as you used to,’” head coach Cindy Stein said. “So I guess that means we’re improving.”

Although the game did not count, SIU, which won only five games all last season, started off on the right foot.

The Hawks led for the first ten minutes of the game, but the Salukis took the lead for good on a basket by junior forward Azia Washington.

Washington led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in a game-high nine rebounds. Washington was second on the team in points and rebounds last season.

Junior center Dyana Pierre added 14 points in her first action after being named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team this spring.

Sophomore point guard Rishonda Napier also scored 14 points in her first game since Nov. 21, 2013. Napier redshirted last year because of a case of gastritis.

Defensively, SIU allowed only two second-chance points and took advantage of a 1-for-15 performance from beyond the arc by Quincy.

Stein said she liked her team’s effort, but saw room for improvement.

“I really like this team,” Stein said. “I think they play hard. I don’t think today was picture perfect, but what I really liked about it was their hustle … I felt like we got a little sloppy once we got that 20-point lead. We’ve got to break from that. We’ve got to teach them how to put teams away.”

The Salukis will get their first chance to put away a team in a game that matters next Friday night when they travel to the University of Tennessee-Martin.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @tdonledey