College basketball games are meant to be played for 40 minutes, not 31.

The SIUC women’s basketball team learned that lesson the hard way against the University of Northern Iowa Sunday at SIU Arena.

Freshman guard Terica Hathaway tied the score at 44 with 9:13 remaining, but it would be the Salukis final field goal of the game. The Panthers buckled down defensively, forcing six SIUC turnovers during a 23-3 run in a 67-47 victory.

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UNI upped its record to 13-10 overall and 7-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The win marked the first time the Panthers have won in Carbondale.

SIUC’s three-game conference win streak was snapped, dropping the Salukis to 9-14, 6-8 in conference play. The loss sealed Saluki coach Cindy Scott’s first losing season at home in her 21 years at SIUC.

I just didn’t think we fought today, Scott said. We just didn’t compete in the second half.

Senior center Theia Hudson kept the Salukis in the game early on. Hudson muscled her way for 20 points on 8-for-8 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds.

But during the decisive run, Hudson did not get off one shot and received little help from her teammates. Her free throw at the 6:13 mark made the score 52-47, but that was the last point for the Salukis.

UNI dominated on the defensive end, double teaming Hudson every time she got the ball inside. When Hudson was able to find an open Saluki, they failed to capitalize.

Excluding Hudson, the Salukis produced only seven points from their starting lineup in the final 20 minutes. In the second half, SIUC shot 32 percent from the field, compared to UNI’s 50 percent mark.

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Nobody shot the ball very well for us, except Theia, Scott said. If you look at our stats and go down the line, nobody shot over 30 percent.

The Salukis spent most of the day trying to figure out a way to stop Panther freshman guard Kary Dawson. Dawson often found ways to break down the SIUC defense as she poured in 18 points.

She killed us, Scott said. We had nobody that could stop her. She penetrated to the hole time after time after time.

Despite the problems, the Salukis had several chances to reverse the outcome. SIUC battled the Panthers for the entire game before the scoring drought, and on three occasions had opportunities to grab the lead.

However, Scott’s team sealed their own fate by committing costly turnovers in critical stages. For the game, SIUC committed 20.

We didn’t good job of handling the ball, and I thought we were very impatient in our offense, Scott said. They got out in front the second half and we just kind of laid down.

The first half was a much different story as the two teams battled almost to a standstill. The Panthers had no answer for Hudson, while the Salukis could not contain Dawson.

Both players led their teams at halftime with eight and 10 points, respectively. UNI did eventually open a six-point lead late in the first half, but a basket by freshman guard Courtney Smith and a free throw from Hudson sent the Salukis in at halftime down 28-25.

All was not lost for the Salukis this weekend as they did manage to defeat Bradley University Friday 64-48. Hudson was the focal point of the offense, again scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

SIUC led by three at the break, but Hudson scored eight consecutive points to open the second half to open a 37-26 advantage.

Defensively, the Salukis shut down the Braves’ attack. Bradley could only muster 22 points in the second-half, shooting 26 percent from the field (9-for-34). The Braves fell to 8-14, 3-11.

Factoid:The Salukis travel to Omaha, Neb., to face Creighton University 7:05 p.m Thursday.