Every time the Salukis had a chance to take over the game something seemed to stop them.

It was either a missed shot, a turnover or sometimes it was a close call that went the other way. Southwest Missouri State University was just too much for the Salukis Thursday night at the SIU Arena.

Their probably a better team, and the better team won, said coach Cindy Scott. But it was a great effort on our part. It was a really good effort.

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The 65-60 loss to the lady Bears was the Salukis’ fourth straight. SIUC moves to 6-11 in Missouri Valley Conference play and 9-17 overall, while the Lady Bears improve to 14-4 in the conference and 22-4 overall.

The Lady Bears took charge midway through the first half with an 11-0 run. The Salukis were unable to catch up in the first half and found themselves down by 11 points at the intermission, 39-28.

That lead proved to fatal, even though SIUC outscored the Lady bears 32-26 in the second half.

One reason the Salukis were able to make a strong showing in the second half was the play of freshman guard Terica Hathaway, who scored seven of her 11 points after halftime.

It is nice to see Terica Hathaway healthy, Scott said. I think everybody sees maybe why we missed her. We didn’t have her for about 14 games. She’s a great player.

The Salukis also had a good night on the boards outrebounding the Lady Bears 35-30. Freshman center Kristine Abramowski led the way with nine boards to go with five points.

But the Salukis again had trouble with turnovers, turning the ball over 26 times. SMSU only had 14 turnovers.

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Turnovers killed us, Scott said. The turnovers are obviously the difference in the game. We outrebound [them] by five. We shot 47 percent. That’s great. I think the turnovers were the difference in the game.

The Salukis were led by sophomore forward O’Desha Proctor, who had 17 for the night.

Forward Lisa Davies led the way for the Lady Bears with 18 points.

With the four losses, Scott said it is imperative the Salukis win Saturday night against Wichita State University because the tough losses will take its toll on the them. The game could set the team’s tone going into the MVC tournament March 5-7 in Springfield, Mo.

Nearly winning has been the story of the team for too long. The Salukis have battled with poor shooting, injuries and losing streaks throughout the season.

Obviously that has been the story of our season, Scott said. We’re almost a pretty good team. Sometimes a very good team. It is the sign of young ball club that has not had a consistent lineup all year because of injuries. It is not going to change, but I am proud of them.