SIU women’s basketball had a rough time defending inside and fell to Drake on Senior Day, 71-64.

The Salukis (19-10, 12-6 Missouri Valley Conference) were outscored 40-18 in the paint and trailed for all but 2:24 in the first quarter.

Drake (21-8, 14-4 MVC) clinched the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament with the win. SIU earned the No. 4 seed.

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Bulldog junior forward Lizzy Wendell, the leading scorer in the Valley coming in with 20.6 points, was held to just 10 points on 4-17 shooting.

Saluki junior guard Carlie Corrigan said it was a disappointing loss because of what the day meant to the players.

“You don’t want to send all-time great Salukis out like that in their last home game and it was just a frustrating loss,” she said. “I do think there will be another time to beat this team and that’s next week.”

Senior guard Cartaesha Macklin, who played in her final home game, led the Salukis with 15 points. Sophomore guard Maddy Dean scored 16 to lead Drake. Macklin finishes the regular season with 1,724 career points as SIU’s all-time scoring leader. 

SIU allowed 19 points off 15 turnovers and had a sluggish shooting day making on 33 percent of their shots.

Sophomore guard Kylie Giebelhausen said the team felt like this was a game it could have won because of what it had done in past games.

“We’re a better conditioned team than them and I think that showed,” she said. “We just made a few mistakes against Northern Iowa as well and they capitalized on them and that’s what happened again today.”

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SIU came within three points late in the fourth, trailing 55-52, but couldn’t overcome a late 11-4 run by Drake.

Coach Cindy Stein said the seniors have been a big part of the success of this program and they will be missed.

“They’re very unselfish, coachable kids who have put in a lot of hard work to get to where they’re at today,” she said. “Without their dedication and effort they’ve given to this program, this team is maybe sitting at eight or nine wins and nowhere near twenty.”

The Dawgs will play Loyola in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which starts on March 11.

Ted Ward can be reached at [email protected] or 618-534-3303