It was a game of boards at the Banterra Center on Saturday as Southern Illinois hosted the Drake Bulldogs for their final home game of the season. SIU got out-rebounded 42-29 and gave up 19 second chance points in what would be a 83-68 loss to the Bulldogs from Des Moines. 

The Salukis returned home from a two game road trip to square off against Drake on Feb. 28, falling short of making their final home game a success in losing to the Bulldogs 

The Dawgs controlled the ball off the jump and recorded the first bucket of the game when guard Kayla Cooper made a pull-up jumper. Cooper scored 7 points in the first quarter, leading the team. 

A pair of assists for guard Tkiyah Nelson contributed to the Saluki offensive output as well. Center Carmen Morales scored an and-one bucket in the paint that swung the momentum in SIU’s direction. 

Senior guard Karris Allen made her presence felt with 4 first-quarter points, making some tough shots. However, Drake cleaned the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds to the Salukis 7. Drake’s second-chance points kept them just ahead, and when the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, the Bulldogs led the Salukis by 3 points. 

The second quarter plagued Southern Illinois. Drake went on a 5-0 run to open the quarter and continued to control the rebounding in a big way. Allowing second-chance points remained an enormous problem for the Salukis. 

The rebounding deficit grew, and Drake was outrebounding SIU by 7 total boards at halftime. The offensive rebounding led to wide-open threes for Bulldog players, and Drake had knocked down five three-pointers by halftime. Drake also was spreading the ball around the court more efficiently, totalling 13 assists to Southern Illinois’ 8.

Saluki Guard Alayna Kraus had 4 points in the quarter, which were her first points of the game. Guard Jeniah Thompson ended the Drake run to open the quarter with her second bucket of the game. Thompson scored 4 points in the second quarter and entered halftime with 6 points. 

The Salukis’ leading scorer was Cooper with 9 points after the first half. The Bulldogs outscored the Salukis by 10 in the second quarter and took a 13-point advantage into the locker room.

SIU came out of the locker room with some renewed energy. The Salukis were able to get within 6 points of the Bulldogs to start the third quarter. Nelson scored 7 points in the quarter and was attacking the paint often.

Cooper continued her scoring output, finishing the quarter with 5 additional points, giving Cooper 14 for the game. By consistently attacking the paint, the Salukis were able to get into the bonus with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The free throws helped SIU outscore Drake in the third quarter.

Defensive rebounding remained a glaring issue for the Salukis. Drake had multiple possessions with two or even three offensive rebounds. The Drake offense would work methodically and tire the Saluki defense until an easy bucket would open up for the Bulldogs. 

Every time the Salukis seemed to get some momentum, it would quickly be squashed by Drake. Cooper continued to knock down shots from behind the arc in the fourth quarter and after a basket from Kraus, it was a 7-point game. Drake responded immediately with an 8-2 run and snuffed out the momentum created by Cooper and SIU. 

The Bulldogs grabbed 13 more total rebounds than the Salukis – 17 of which were offensive. Drake dominated the glass, and even with SIU getting into the bonus, the Salukis never cut the lead below 10 during the latter half of the fourth. 

Thompson finished the game with 10 points and 5 rebounds, forward Indya Green contributed 11 points and 6 rebounds, and Kayla Cooper dropped 20 points to lead the team. SIU hit four 3-pointers as a team, and Cooper accounted for all four of them. After the horn sounded, Drake had defeated SIU 83-68.

“I’m proud of Kayla Cooper today. Just her energy the last couple of games. Forget the ball going in the hole right now, her energy defensively, in practice … her energy is high,” Saluki Head Coach Kelly Bond-White said. 

The Salukis fall to 9-18 and 6-12 in MVC play, while Drake improves to 10-18 and 9-9 in MVC play. A quick turnaround has the Dawgs traveling to Nashville to play against the Belmont Bruins for their penultimate game of the regular season. The game will tip off on Monday, March 2, at 6:30 p.m.

Sports Reporter Aaron Carnahan can be reached at [email protected]

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