Daily Egyptian Reporter 15

The Saluki women’s basketball team’s first-round loss to Detroit Mercy University in the San Juan Shootout was a tough game for Melaniece Bardley to put behind her, and the frustration continued in the second-round loss to Duke University.

The Salukis opened the tournament Thursday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a 73-62 loss to Detroit Mercy. The Salukis were 11 for 26 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 25 times.

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SIUC finished fifth in the tournament with a 1-2 record and moved to 2-3 on the season.

For some reason I couldn’t let it go, Bardley said. We were the better team. They played hard for 40 minutes. We played in spurts.

Bardley said the team continued to struggle with fundamentals, such as making free throws and avoiding turnovers, but she said the struggles are just a lack of experience and team unity.

We haven’t pulled together a whole game just yet, Bardley said. I think that is going to come with time as the season passes. We’ll pull it together.

Women’s basketball coach Cindy Scott said the Salukis should have won the first game of the Shootout, but they did not play as hard as Detroit Mercy did.

We didn’t play with intensity for 40 minutes, and it cost us, Scott said. I thought we responded very well against Duke. I am very happy we at least responded well and got a good effort. Once we learn to play with confidence for 40 minutes, we can be a pretty good team.

Scott said another factor in the game against Detroit Mercy was that center Theia Hudson played about 20 minutes because she was in foul trouble. Hudson had to sit out almost 10 minutes in the first half alone, but she did manage to put up 14 points, despite the limited play.

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Scott was pleased with Hudson’s performance, but not having her in the game was a factor in the loss to Detroit.

Hudson came back and scored 18 points against Duke in a losing effort while making the All-Tournament team.

But even though the Salukis lost to Duke 76-54 in the second round of the tournament Saturday, Scott thought the Salukis made Duke work hard for the win.

It looks like they did (dominate the game), but we just missed shots, Scott said. We had great shots that we didn’t finish. Duke did not dominate at any point in that ball game even though they were up by 20 at the half. We made Duke sweat.

The Salukis had the opportunity to beat Duke, but they shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half and trailed by 23 points at halftime. The Salukis dug a hole for themselves that they could not overcome in the second half. SIUC did have a 7-0 run in the second half, but they never caught Duke.

Scott said the 77-40 win over the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Sunday was a game the Salukis should not have even played.

It was unfortunate that we even had to play them, Scott said. It counts as win. That’s about all it does for us. We got to see (freshman) Tiffany Traylor play point, and I thought she did very well. So from that standpoint, it was very helpful to us.