SIUC had a chance in the first half to pull an upset over Drake University, but after halftime, the Bulldogs showed the Salukis why it is undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference.

SIUC shot a dismal 25 percent from the field in the first half compared to Drake’s 52 percent. The Salukis did not have a field goal the last seven and a half minutes of the first half.

But despite all SIUC’s problems, the Bulldogs were up only 30-23 going into halftime.

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The second half, though, was a much different story. The Bulldogs shot 69 percent from the field and never let the Salukis make it close by rolling to a 73-54 win.

Women’s coach Cindy Scott said the Salukis did well on defense in the first half to keep it close, but made some costly mistakes on offensive.

I really thought we did a good job defensively in the first half, Scott said. We really hurt ourselves with turnovers unforced turnovers in the first half. Just possession after possession we come down [the court] and just don’t take care of the basketball.

At one point in the second half, Drake had a 26-point lead. Even a 12-0 Saluki run late in the second half could not make a dent in the Bulldog lead.

Senior guard Kierston Miller led all scoring with 24 points to go with a team-high six rebounds. Drake had four players in double figures and made five three-point buckets in the second half.

Drake’s win keeps the Bulldogs atop of the Missouri Valley Conference with a 9-0 record and 14-3 overall.

With the loss, the Salukis have dropped three in a row and move to 2-7 in the conference and 5-12 overall. They have lost nine of their last 11 games.

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We’re trying very hard to focus on positives right now because everybody is throwing the negatives at us right now, big time, Scott said. So we’re trying not to think about the negative things.

We’re trying not to think about our record right now and focus on some positive things. I thought Tiffany Traylor matured tremendously today. I thought Courtney (Smith) played very well.

Freshman guard Traylor provided some spark with seven points and three rebounds. The Salukis also got a boost from freshman forward Smith, who led all players with her eight rebounds.

Once again, sophomore forward Meredith Jackson led the Salukis in scoring. She had 12 points and shot 40 percent from three-point territory.

Jackson also made her 23rd consecutive free throws to break Amy Rakers’ school record of 22 consecutive buckets at the line set in the 1990-91 season. Jackson is shooting just over 91 percent from the free throw line for her SIUC career.

I wish my regular field goal percentage was as good as my free throw percentage, Jackson said. I wish our record was better.

As a team, the Salukis outrebounded the Bulldogs 39-26 and controlled the offensive boards with a lopsided 21-3 performance.

Senior center Theia Hudson, who is SIUC’s leading scorer with 14.1 points per game, struggled to an 0-for-9 field goal performance. Her only points came from three free throws.

Considering all the Salukis had to overcome playing the conference’s top team, Scott was pleased with the way her team never gave up the entire game.

I thought our kids played hard today, and I thought they competed, Scott said. Drake is a very fine basketball team. And I think if we hit a few shots, we are in the game with them. We show signs of playing with some good confidence.

SIUC battles conference-foe Indiana State University Thursday at 6 p.m. in Terre Haute, Ind.

The game can be heard on WQRL 106.3 FM or at http://www.siu.edu/~athletic.