Despite celebrating their seniors, the SIU women’s basketball team was unable to snap their losing streak and fell to Illinois State 99-86.
The Dawgs ended the season 4-25 and on a nine game losing streak. Saturday’s loss to the Redbirds was their 18th in the Missouri Valley Conference, and 17 came by at least 10 points.
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Tyranny Brown, Se’Quoia Allmond and Jeniah Thompson were honored in a pregame ceremony. Allmond, who spent two seasons with the Salukis, ended the year out with an injury, as did Thompson, who returned to SIU before the 2024-25 season after spending 2020-21 with the Dawgs. Brown played all four of her collegiate seasons as a Saluki.
SIU’s guards had a field day against Illinois State, with two setting career marks in points scored. Kayla Cooper had 23 points on 9-16 shooting, including 3-5 from beyond the arc, and Tykiyah Nelson had 17 points on 9-16 shooting.
The Salukis had a great day offensively outside of Cooper and Nelson, shooting 57.1% from the field and 47.1% from 3-point range, the latter of which was their highest percentage of the season. All of this came from a Saluki offense that averaged 57.1 points per game, 34.7% from the field and 26.5% from 3 across the season.
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The Dawgs’ defense was what let them down; despite recording 7 steals and 5 blocks, the 99 points they allowed were the most they’d given up all season, and the most SIU had given up in nearly two calendar years.
The Salukis found themselves down 8, at the end of the first quarter, with Gift Uchenna and Alice Curman scoring 6 and 5 respectively to help keep the Dawgs afloat in the beginning of the game.
The margin grew even more in the second quarter, as Illinois State poured in 28 points and stretched their lead to 52-32. Cooper had 7 points, but the Salukis looked like their old selves, shooting 36.8% in the quarter.
The second half is where it all changed for the Dawgs. They put up 25 points on 64.7% shooting in the third, and saw Cooper, Nelson and Isabella Palmqvist all score at least 5.
Unfortunately, Illinois State was able to nearly match that production and saw their lead cut to only 76-57. The Salukis continued their offensive charge, shooting a scorching 85.7% from the field in the fourth, but were unable to cut the Redbirds’ lead to less than 99-86.
The Dawgs will be the 12th seed in the MVC Tournament due to Indiana State, who is also 2-18 in the MVC and whom they are 1-1 against, being ranked higher in the NCAA Net Rankings. SIU is set for a rematch with Illinois State on March 13 at 2:30 p.m.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook.
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