It was a snowy Sunday afternoon in Evansville, Ind., but inside the Ford Center, the SIU women’s basketball team caught fire from the 3-point line to pull out a close victory.

The Salukis (15-9, 7-4 Missouri Valley Conference) shot 1-10 behind the 3-point line in the first half, but made 8-of-11 long balls in the second half to hold off Evansville (2-21, 1-11 MVC), 66-63.

Sophomore guard/forward Kylie Giebelhausen led SIU with four 3-pointers, all of them coming in the second half, and finished with 14 points.

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SIU held the Purple Aces’ leading scorer, junior guard Sara Dickey, to two points in the first half. Dickey scored 15 of her team’s 35 points in the second half.

Evansville freshman guard Camille Coleman entered the game having scored in double digits in her last two games. With the Salukis’ defensive efforts focused on Dickey, she extended that streak to three, scoring 10 points off the bench in the game’s first period.

Coleman added another 10 in the second quarter, topping her previous career high of 19 points before halftime. She finished Sunday with a game-high 26 points.

Senior guard Cartaesha Macklin led the Salukis with 15 points. Junior forward Kim Nebo picked up her third career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

SIU finished the game with 19 assists and five turnovers.

The Salukis return home to take on Missouri State at 6 p.m. Friday.

Thomas Donley can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3307

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