A rally by the SIU women’s basketball team fell just short in their March 6 matchup against the Bradley Braves. 

The Salukis had a slow start to the game, putting up only 11 points in the first quarter. Isabella Palmqvist, who led the Salukis for the full game in scoring, had 6 points in the first period and found themselves trailing 21-11. 

Advertisement

The second quarter was where the Dawgs made it a game. Their defense clamped down and held Bradley to 6 points in the entire quarter, and were able to score 14 themselves to cut the deficit to only 27-25. 

Tkiyah Nelson recorded 3 steals in the frame, and Palmqvist had one of her own. The Saluki defense managed to force 10 turnovers in the quarter, and saw a balanced scoring effort in the period behind 4 points from Palmqvist and Kayla Cooper and 2 points from Nelson, Gift Uchenna and Alice Curman. 

The Salukis had another slow start to a half when they came out after the break. SIU put up a pitiful 7 points in the quarter, with 2 points apiece from Palmqvist and Curman and another 3 points from Uchenna, who recorded another double-double and led the Dawgs in rebounds with 10. 

Advertisement*

The Braves carried a 40-32 lead into the fourth quarter, and were able to put a quick 2 points up after a pair of Curman free throws. 

The deficit stayed at 6 points for the first four minutes of the period until a pair of layups by Mia Gaines to cut the deficit to 47-43. While the salukis were pushing, the Braves were able to stay just ahead, maintaining a nearly 6 point lead until they stretched to 8 with a pair of free throws at the buzzer. 

The Saluki offense was once again inefficient, shooting 30% from the field and only 21.4% from beyond the arc. They were also beaten on the boards, grabbing 35 rebounds as opposed to Bradley’s 40. 

SIU fell to 4-24 and 2-17 in the Missouri Valley Conference with one game left to play in the regular season. They will take on Illinois State on March 6 at 2 p.m. in Carbondale when they celebrate senior day and honor Tyranny Brown, Se’Quoia Allmond and Jeniah Thompson.

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

Advertisement