SIU fell to UNI 66-57 in the Salukis’ fourth Missouri Valley Conference matchup of the new year. The game took place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15 in Cedar Falls, IA. This was their first conference loss this season.

The first basket of the game came at the hands of senior center Gabby Walker with a layup. The score came with 9:05 left in the first quarter.

Northern Iowa slowly crept up on the Salukis as SIU couldn’t get anything to fall after the seven-minute mark.

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The Panthers continued to put the pressure on, as they knocked down multiple jumpers from all over the court. By the first media timeout, with 4:58 left in the first quarter, UNI led 15-8.

Out of the break, the Salukis still struggled while the Panthers flourished. Northern Iowa gained a 21-8 lead before SIU head coach Cindy Stein had seen enough. She called another timeout with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

Unfortunately for the Dawgs, the timeout didn’t change much, as the Panthers scored nine more to close out the first, as opposed to SIU’s three. Northern Iowa held an enormous lead, 30-11.

The Salukis immediately came out the break with a three from senior forward Abby Brockmeyer.

SIU finally managed to find their rhythm, as they knocked down multiple three-pointers and got to the basket. UNI led 38-25 by the second media timeout of the game, with 3:18 left in the half.

Southern Illinois started to worry the Panthers as they closed the gap to single digits with 1:37 left in the half. The Salukis trailed by only eight as the score became 38-30.

Both teams locked up on defense through the rest of the second quarter. The score remained the same as both teams went into the tunnel for halftime.

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In the third quarter, both teams battled until the six minutes mark, until Walker managed to cut the Panthers’ lead to just four, 43-39.

With more heroics from Walker, the score became 46-45 (Panthers still ahead) with 2:14 left in the third quarter. What seemed impossible had now become probable.

However, UNI regained some of their previous momentum, and managed to close out the third quarter on an 8-2 run.

After an early bucket from Walker to start the fourth, both teams went on a drought until 7:22, as UNI knocked down two free throws.

With 4:35 left in the game, at the final media timeout, Northern Iowa held an eight-point lead, 60-52.

Northern Iowa maintained this lead until the closing minutes, where they eventually won the game 66-57.

Southern Illinois was led by top performers Walker, Brockmeyer, and senior forward Mackenzie Silvey. All three girls have managed the bulk of the scoring load for the Salukis this season.

Walker had 20 points with seven rebounds, Brockmeyer had 16 points with 11 rebounds and Silvey finished with 15 points and four rebounds.

In this game, both Brockmeyer and Silvey both cracked 200 points on the season.

Southern Illinois will play its next game against Illinois State on Thursday, Jan, 20. The game takes place in the Banterra Center at 6 p.m.

Sports Reporter Cole Daily can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at cdaily_de

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