DE Assistant Sports Editor

Perhaps a bit upset over last week’s loss in Normal, the SIUC women’s basketball team took its frustrations out on the Sycamores of Indiana State University Saturday.

Rebounding from its loss to Illinois State University Thursday, SIUC rolled over the Sycamores in easy fashion 77-60 Saturday in Terre Haute.

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Unlike Thursdays loss to the Redbirds, where the Salukis shot a dismal 31 percent from the field, SIUC shot a positive 49 percent in yesterday’s game against the Sycamores.

SIUC coach Cindy Scott said her main concern, prior to heading into Terre Haute, was how well her team would respond following Thursday night’s loss.

I was very concerned how we would respond emotionally coming into this game, Scott said. I think our kids showed that they are going to fight as hard as they can throughout the end of this season and try to get done what we want to get done.

Paced by sophomore forward Theia Hudson, the Salukis responded well on both ends of the court, finishing with four players in double figures and beating ISU on the boards 46-31.

Hudson led all Salukis with 16 points and 12 boards on the afternoon.

Up by only two at the break, the Salukis reestablished its offensive attack in the second half by outscoring the Sycamores 38-22 behind an 18-5 scoring run.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t SIUC’s familiar attack from the perimeter which dismantled the Sycamores, but a well balanced inside attack by Hudson and fellow forwards Heather Slater and Christel Jefferson, who each added 15 points.

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Saluki guards Nikki Gilmore and Kasia McClendon, who normally lead SIUC in scoring, took on the role of penetrating the Sycamores’ defense, which served to uplift the Salukis’ inside game.

While penetrating ISU’s defenses, McClendon added a quiet 14 points of her own.

Scott said it’s extremely important to know that the team can win without having to rely on its outside game all of the time.

I think its crucial for us to know that we can win without Kasia (McClendon) scoring 20 and without Nikki (Gilmore) scoring 20, Scott said. Kasia played a beautiful game for us tonight, not because she scored 14 points for us, but because she ran the offense and got the ball inside. She did everything we asked her to do.

With the Missouri Valley Conference tournament fast approaching, Scott said it’s paramount the team performs as well as it did against ISU in order to win.

Scott said when the team plays a well balanced game, as it did against the Sycamores, the Salukis are a team to be reckoned with.

When we’re on and playing defensively with the intensity that we can play it, and we’re out rebounding and being smart with the basketball on offense, I think we’re tough to beat, she said. That doesn’t mean we have to shoot 55 percent or 58 percent, we just have to be smart with the ball and take good shots.

The Salukis return to Carbondale to host its last two regular-season games against Wichita State Thursday and reigning conference champion Southwest Missouri State (14-1) Saturday.

Scott said she is looking forward to the remainder of the season and hosting both Wichita State and SMSU.

We are excited about having the opportunity to play Wichita and Southwest, she said. It’s unfortunate that it might not be as important a game next Saturday against Southwest as we had wished, but anytime you play Southwest and Wichita State its an important game.

If we can finish 17-9 after the regular season with the start that we had, I think its a great tribute to these young ladies and what they have accomplished.