The first-half shooting problems that plagued the Salukis all season put an end to their season Thursday.

The Salukis shot 14 percent in the first 10 minutes of the game and fell behind 17-2 to Drake University. The Salukis took a time-out with about eight minutes left and proceeded to go on an 8-0 run. The last nine minutes of the first half, SIUC outscored the Bulldogs 18-9.

But it was not enough, and the Salukis’ hopes of an extended season ended with an 84-70 loss to Drake in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Thursday in Springfield, Mo.

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I thought we gave them a great effort, head coach Cindy Scott said. Beth [Hasheider] had four lay-ups that she shot poorly off the glass. A couple of those, I thought she was getting a little hammered on. But if those things go down, maybe it is a little bit different ball game.

The Salukis end the season with a record of 10-18 overall and 7-12 in conference play. Drake improves to 23-4 overall and 18-1 in MVC games and advances to the quarterfinals.

Scott said the Salukis started the game on a bad note and were simply not relaxed.

I think we were little uptight, a little nervous, Scott said. But we did settle down, and we competed hard and got it cut to seven. I think we made Drake sweat, and they had to work very hard to win that basketball game.

At one point in the game, the Salukis pulled to within five, but Drake never let the SIUC get any closer.

Kiersten Miller led the way for the Bulldogs with her 24 points. She shot six treys for Drake and provided her team with some timely scoring to stop several Saluki rallies.

Saluki freshman forward Terica Hathaway had her best day as a Saluki. She had 20 points to go with seven rebounds. She and senior Theia Hudson combined for 40 of SIUC’s 70 points.

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Terica is going to be a great basketball player for us, Scott said. I’ve said it all along. She was sick and missed 14 games, and nobody has a clue as to how good that young lady is going to be.

Mark my word, when she graduates in three more years now, the end of her senior year, she is going to be one of the top-five players to play in our program.

Scott said she likes what she sees in the freshmen. The Salukis got off to a slow start, but as the freshmen got better, the team improved.

Scott said she would have liked to have ended the season with a better record, but she expects nothing but good things in the future especially with players like Hathaway and freshman guard Courtney Smith.

Obviously we are disappointed with the record, Scott said. But I think we made great strides as team. We are a whole lot better now than we were the first part of January. We are very young. I think we are solid as far as the future. Our day will be there.