On Dec. 12, the Salukis (1-1) defeated Austin Peay State (2-1) 72-54. Southern pulled away in the last minutes of the fourth quarter, making the score gap so large the Governors were unable to close it.

“I’m really proud of our kids, it’s good to get off to a quick start. I’m really proud of our defense especially in the fourth quarter,” SIU head coach Cindy Stein said.

Leading the Salukis in scoring was senior guard Makenzie Silvey with 16 points and leading for the Governors was senior guard Brandi Ferby with 14 points. 

Southern started off the game with a three point run with scoring from senior forward Abby Brockmeyer and freshman guard Quierra Love. The run was quickly stopped by a layup from the Governors Ferby.

The Salukis lengthened their lead with two layups from freshman guard Adrianna Katcher making the score 9-2. 

Austin Peay fought to decrease Southern’s lead with a layup from senior forward Myah Leflore, a free throw from Ferby and a 3-point play from freshman guard Nina De Leon Negron.

Southern kept the lead throughout the first quarter despite steady scoring from the Governors ending with the score 16-13. 

The Salukis increased their lead early in the second quarter going on a five point run with scoring from Silvey and Brockmeyer.

Both teams continued scoring throughout the second quarter, but Southern kept the lead, 33-31, at the end of the half.

Silvey led the Salukis in scoring at the end of the half with 10 points and Ferby led for the Governors with nine points.

The Governors took the lead for the first time at the start of the third quarter with a basket from senior guard Brianah Ferby making the score 34-33.

Austin Peay closed out the third quarter with a 51-49 lead with 3-pointers from De Leon Negron and sophomore guard Shay-lee Kirby. 

“What was killing us throughout the third quarter was them coming off the high ball screens, we weren’t talking well and we weren’t getting over it well,” Brockmeyer said.

Southern quickly took back the lead with two layups from Love and Silvey.

“[Love’s] quickness is really exciting to watch and it’s something we noticed right away when we were recruiting her. She has the ability to play full court defense [and] getting some good scores when people over played her,” Stein said.

The Salukis went on an 11 point run near the end of the fourth quarter increasing their lead to 66-53.

Though the Governors continued scoring, they were unable to recapture the lead securing the Salukis victory 72-54.

“I feel like we’ve gotten more of a flow and it’s always good when more people are scoring, I think we had four or five people in double digits […]. We had some really good people step up, we had [Love] and Gabby play an awesome game,” Brockmeyer said.

The Salukis take to the court again on Dec. 13 against Southeast Missouri State.

Staff reporter Janae Mosby can be reached at jmosby@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @mosbyj.

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement