Quierra Love and Shemera Williams each scored 16 as the Saluki defense propelled SIU past SEMO 85-70 in its season opener on Tuesday night at the Bantera Center.

It all clicked for the Dawgs midway through the third quarter. With 5:28 to go and trailing by nine, SIU put on a defensive clinic, holding SEMO scoreless for the next five minutes.

“We’re definitely a good team with a lot of pressure, defensive pressure,” Love said. “It’s one of our big emphasis, so you should expect to see more of it.”

The offense, which had been cold through the first half, roared to life at the same time. In just over a minute – powered by three pointers from Sydney Prochaska and Love, and baskets from Laniah Randle, Love and Seairra Hughes – the Salukis erased the deficit and themselves had a two-point lead.

“We wanted to come out in the second half and get up in transition, and just do what we do,” Williams said. “And push the ball, and get open looks. Help each other. That’s what we really wanted to do the second half, and just run it up on them.”

SIU and SEMO both started the game trading blows, with eight lead changes in the first quarter alone. Williams had a quick five points, hitting two free throws and burying a three. Jaidynn Mason had seven points in the quarter, making two jumpers and a long-range three.

“Jaidynn Mason led us by coming up with some easy midrange baskets that kind of kept us in the game as we were trying to find our footing defensively,” head coach Kelly Bond-White said.

The first quarter ended with SEMO up 24-23. The Dawgs had gone a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and shooting 60% from three point range.

During the second quarter, the Saluki offense went cold, missing 10 buckets and shooting a dreadful 29% from the floor. The Salukis didn’t let their poor offense affect their defense though; they still forced seven turnovers and didn’t allow SEMO to pull away. At halftime, the Dawgs only found themselves trailing 41-37.

SEMO slowly built up a lead early in the third, but then came the Salukis’ dominant defensive run. During the suffocating stretch, Love and Mason combined for five steals, while Hughes made a crucial block. The offense improved, with the Dawgs shooting nearly 53% from the floor, including an even 50% from three.

“Coach Bond, she talked to me, and she was like ‘hey, we need you, you gotta bring that energy,’” Love said. “And that’s what I did. My teammates backed me up 100%, and so, it was a fun run.”

SIU was able to put the game away in the final quarter. The offense remained red hot, shooting 75% from beyond the arc to wrap up a 9-for-17 night overall. The Salukis built a lead as large as 20 points behind this devastating offensive attack.

It becomes more clear how the Salukis won when comparing the points off turnovers and on fast breaks; the Salukis outscored SEMO 21-12 and 11-4 in those categories respectively. It also shows a lot of effort on the defensive end, with nearly 30 points coming because of defensive plays.

“Somebody walked up to me and was like ‘aw man, it felt like Floorburn U up in here tonight,’” Bond-White said. “And that means something to me, because when our kids start playing that hard, we know we can put some points up on the board, but when we starting getting those extra possessions, that’s what’s gonna help us.”

The Salukis will look to start a win streak when they take on Cornell at home on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all of your southern Illinois, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and @dailyegyptian on Twitter.

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