The Salukis wanted to be tested one more time against a ranked non-conference team.

They got their wish Tuesday against Vanderbilt University at SIU Arena. They also got a little more than they could handle.

The Salukis led 46-40 with 12:50 left, and from there it was all Vanderbilt’s defense as the Commodores beat the Salukis 65-53.

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Coach Cindy Scott said the Salukis could not get the shots they needed in the closing minutes, and their 38 percent shooting performance hurt them.

We just really didn’t get what we wanted done offensively in the last eight or nine minutes, Scott said. They picked up their defensive pressure up, and we couldn’t the ball inside to [senior center] Theia [Hudson]. I think we made Vandy sweat a little bit more than we have in our past couple of outings with them.

Sophomore forward O’Desha Proctor said the Salukis’ problem offensively was waiting too long to get their offense in motion.

I though we played great for 38 minutes, but the last two minutes we fell apart, Proctor said. We weren’t running any offense, and we waited until the last minute to get into anything.

The Salukis are now 8-13 overall. The Commodores move to 17-5 overall and extend their win streak to seven against the Salukis.

Vanderbilt is 20th in the nation in scoring defense with an average of 58.6 points allowed per game.

But Vanderbilt also showed strength on offense. They came out strong, and it looked like the Salukis clearly were outmatched. The No. 10 Commodores fired up seven straight points and had a 10-1 run to open the game.

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They came out the gates fast, Scott said. But our kids shut them down, and I thought our kids settled down and I thought they competed really well.

Freshman guard Courtney Smith got things going when she drained a field goal, and the Salukis began an 18-3 run that gave them a lead and helped them carry a 32-30 lead at the halfway mark.

The defensive strength of the Commodores crumbled a little under the strong shooting performance of the Salukis, who put up a red-hot 54 percent performance from the field and shot 50 percent from the three-point line.

Hudson matched the 18 points of Vanderbilt’s Lisa Ostrom. Hudson also led the game with 13 rebounds.