The SIUC women played tough for the first 13 minutes of the game but gave up a lead to the University of Northern Iowa and never got back in the game Saturday.

The Panthers went on a 24-10 scoring spree in the closing minutes of the first half in rolling to a 68-54 win. The Salukis ended the half trailing 34-20.

The Salukis shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half, while the Panthers shot 42 percent from the field. The Salukis managed to improve in the second half by shooting 38 percent from the field, but they were unable to catch up to the Panthers.

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Freshman forward Courtney Smith led the Salukis with 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Senior center Theia Hudson was the only other Saluki in double figures with 12 points.

The Panthers were led by Allison Starr, who had 19 points and six rebounds.

SIUC Swimming and diving

The University of Kansas crushed the SIUC men’s team 182-108 while handing the SIUC women’s team 164-133 at the Recreation Center Saturday.

Freshman Daniela Muniz finished first for the Saluki women in the 400 individual medley in a time of 4:39.39. Junior Kat Flannery (4:40.71) took second for the Salukis, and Senior Nicole Freda (4:43.05) took third for SIUC.

Senior Karla Gerzema was the only other first-place finisher with her 347.72 score in the 3-meter dive. Freshmen Colleen Reardon took second for SIUC with a score of 210.07.

For the men, senior Liam Weseloh took first in the 1,000-meter freestyle with a time of 9:25.69. Senior Steve Munz also took first place in the 100-meter backstroke at 53.46, and freshman Gavin Anderson finished first in the 100-meter freestyle (47.22).

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Both SIUC teams had not competed since first-place finishes at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in early December.

The loss to Kansas puts the men’s dual record at 2-5 while the women fall to 2-6.

Duke new No. 1 in coaches poll

Duke University, which survived a second-half barrage to edge Clemson University on Saturday, took advantage of the University of North Carolina’s first loss of the season to claim the top spot in the latest coaches college basketball poll released Sunday.

While Duke (16-1) grabbed 22 of the 30 votes from the panel of Division I coaches, the remaining eight were spread around. In all, five schools received first-place votes including 11th-ranked Princeton University.

North Carolina, which fell to second, and unbeaten University of Utah and Stanford University each received a pair of first-place votes. The University of Kansas, which remained third, had the other first-place vote.

Utah (15-0) posted a pair of easy victories to remain fourth while the University of Arizona (15-3) remained a rung below by routing intrastate rival Arizona State 127-99 and easily handling No. 13 New Mexico, 89-70.

Stanford (16-0) is sixth with the University of Kentucky (16-2) seventh. The University of Connecticut (16-2), Purdue University (15-4) and UCLA (13-3) round out the top 10.

Princeton (13-1), the University of Iowa (15-2), the University of New Mexico (13-3), the University of Mississippi (12-2) and Syracuse University (15-2) earned spots 11 through 15. The University of Michigan (14-4), the University of South Carolina (11-3), Xavier University (11-4), the University of Arkansas (14-3) and Florida State University fill out the top 20.