The Salukis ended their two game losing streak this evening with a win against Loyola University.

Southern Illinois (16-12 MVC 8-9) took the lead in the first half and Loyola (15-13 MVC 6-11) could close the gap.

Leading the Salukis in scoring was senior forward Nicole Martin with 16 points. 

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Junior guard Makenzie Silvey followed with 14 points.

The Salukis went 19-for-51 (37.3%) from the field and had a total of 30 defensive rebounds along with nine steals. 

“We talk a lot about defense and rebounding,” Saluki head Coach Cindy Stein said. “I felt that we did a good job in both of those categories.”

Loyola’s leading scorer was senior guard Tiara Wallace with 14 points.

Following Wallace was junior guard Ellie Rice with six points. 

Loyola went 17-for-54 from the field and 2-for-15 from the 3-point line. 

Southern was the first to score after the jump ball with a layup from Silvey this was followed by a layup from senior guard Brittney Patrick.

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Scoring went back-and-forth in the beginning of the first quarter until SIU pulled away with a 3-pointer from Silvey and a layup from junior forward Gabby Walker.

The Salukis ended the first quarter with a free throw from Martin in the last 30 seconds. 

Loyola sophomore guard Janae Gonzales scored the first basket in the second quarter with a 3-pointer.

The Ramblers continued scoring with four points coming on a jumper from Rice and a layup from O’Connor giving them the lead 19-16.

SIU then went on a 9-0 run with layups from sophomore guard Payton McCallister, junior forward Rachel Pudlowski, and junior forward Abby Brockmeyer. 

A defensive steal from Brockmeyer was converted to a fast break layup for Silvey and this gave Southern the lead, 27-19.

“We had a lot of spurts where we were really good defensively,” Silvey said. “I think that was what allowed us to pull away.”

The Salukis closed out the half with a layup form Brockmeyer making the score 33-21.

Loyola kicked off the second half with layups from Gonzales and Wallace. 

Southern’s Martin scored the first five points in the third quarter with two layups and a free throw lengthening the lead to 38-28.

“Coach Stein [said] … that our bigs can dominate in the post,” Martin said. “ That was our focus going into the game.”

The Ramblers continued trying to close in on the lead with a 3-pointer from freshman guard Anna Brown and a layup from freshman guard Sam Galanopoulos. 

In the last two minutes of the third quarter, a layup from Galanopoulos and a free throw from junior forward Kat Nolan put Loyola within three.

The Salukis and the Ramblers started the fourth quarter by going head-to-head with a 3-pointer from SIU’s McCallister and a layup from Loyola’s Rice but Southern managed to hold the lead, 46-38.

Three free throws from Martin strengthened SIU’s lead with just under three minutes left in the game. 

Loyola continued to score throughout the fourth quarter, but their efforts fell short giving the Salukis a 58-41 win.

The Salukis take on Valparaiso University at the Banterra Center on Saturday Mar. 7 at 2 p.m. SIU will be honoring four seniors before tip-off.

Sports reporter Janae Mosby can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @mosbyjanae.

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