DE Assistant Sports Editor

SIUC’s women’s basketball team stunned the Lady Redbirds of Illinois State University Thursday night, dominating all aspects of the game in an 89-54 rout at SIU Arena.

The victory bought the Salukis a share of second place in the Missouri Valley Conference. A 6-2 record ties SIUC for second in the MVC with ISU.

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The flood gates opened in the opening minutes of the first half, with SIUC gaining control of the ball off the tip-off.

Quick scores from sophomore center Theia Hudson and senior guard Nikki Gilmore put the Salukis ahead 5-0, and balanced scoring inside from senior forward LaQuanda Chavours, senior forward Christel Jefferson and junior guard Kasia McClendon put SIUC out in front 11-6 just under six minutes into the contest.

The Lady Redbirds came within two points on buckets by forward Melanie Ward and center Kay Schroeder, but ISU’s hopes of pulling ahead were ended by tough Saluki defense and aggressive offense.

Six-foot senior forward Heather Slater pounded the offensive boards while McClendon and Gilmore lit up the scoreboard.

Gilmore went two-for-three from three point range and scored 10 points in the half. She led SIUC in scoring with 17 points in the contest.

Slater scored 16 points and went eight-for-nine from the charity stripe. McClendon ended the game with 10 points and four assists.

SIUC’s scoring frenzy continued as time expired and the Salukis stormed into the locker room with a commanding 48-27 lead.

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The Lady Redbirds could only look on in wonder as the Saluki offensive attack remained unstoppable in the second half. McClendon, Hudson and Jefferson hit from inside the paint to stretch SIUC’s lead to 25 points, 61-36.

Junior forward Niki Washington, sophomore guard Beth Hasheider, freshman forward O’Desha Proctor and freshman guard Heather Whalin came on strong, building the score to 85-48 with just over three minutes left in regulation.

The Salukis closed it out on a bucket by Hudson and two free throws by junior center Tiffany Spencer.

The victory marks SIUC’s women’s head coach Cindy Scott’s 200th victory over an in-state opponent.

Solid first-half performances from Gilmore and Slater were key in winning the contest, Scott said.

Gilmore had a great first half, and Slater had a great first half. And that probably was the difference in the game there, she said.

Gilmore said ISU’s low score was due to a team defensive effort.

I think as a team we played very hard on defense, she said. We usually don’t get a lot of loose balls and whatever, and today we were up and down the court getting loose balls. I thought we played well the whole 40 minutes.

Gilmore also said now that the team has taken care of ISU, she hopes the winning will continue.

I hope we get everybody else’s number too.