DE Assistant Sports Editor

A flat performance by the SIUC women’s basketball team was just enough to put away the last-place University of Evansville Aces 66-59 Saturday night at SIU Arena.

The victory improved the Salukis to 6-6 overall and 4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIUC has won four of its last five games, with its past three wins coming against Wichita State, Drake and Creighton.

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SIUC jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, with a layup from senior forward Christel Jefferson and short jumper from guard Nikki Gilmore.

Jefferson posted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for the Salukis.

Gilmore, who returned to the hardwood on Dec. 18 after suffering a leg injury in a drive-by shooting Nov. 27, scored two points in 28 minutes against the Aces.

A three-point shot by Evansville’s Suzanne Smith cut the Saluki lead to one in the early minutes of the contest.

SIUC held the lead for the remainder of the first half with a barrage of perimeter shots from junior guard Kasia McClendon and transfer forward Niki Washington.

McClendon, who was named MVC Player of the Week for Jan. 7, was three for five from three-point range and led the Salukis with 18 points in the contest. All three of McClendon’s treys came in the first half.

Washington, who played her first game as a Saluki Jan. 4, scored 8 points in the game. Six of those come from behind the three-point line.

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A McClendon layup and a two-point basket from junior Tiffany Spencer put SIUC up 36-31 going into the locker room.

SIUC came out strong in the second half, going on a 14-2 run that put the Salukis up 50-33 with just under 16 minutes left in regulation, but the Aces did not go down easily. SIUC’s poor inside shooting let Evansville back in the game.

A two-point basket by Evansville’s Smith cut the SIUC lead to 10, 64-54, with just over two minutes left on the clock.

The Aces kept firing inside and managed to come within seven, 66-59, as time expired.

Women’s basketball head coach Cindy Scott said even though her squad came away with a victory, her players did not play to the best of their abilities.

We did not play with the defensive intensity we needed to, she said. I mean, we let them shoot the perimeter shot all night without a hand in their face. We missed a lot of easy stick-backs. We just let them hang around.

Scott also said poor inside shooting prevented SIUC from putting Evansville away early.

If we hit those inside shots in the first half, we’re up 15 instead of five at halftime and we build a lead probably to 28 instead of 18 in the second half, she said.

Her team had a hard time becoming motivated to play the Aces, Scott said.

It happens all the time, in any sport, any level, and we saw it tonight, she said. It’s a difficult task for any team to get up for an 0-11 team. I’m not making excuses for us because with a mature senior ball club you should be able to come out and focus and be ready to play, and for whatever reason we really didn’t do that. We didn’t really get the job done tonight.

Scott said her team is looking past this game and is preparing for the University of Memphis.

The key thing is we still got a win, she said. I guess it’s the mark of a good team when you can play poorly and still win. We’ll take it and get ready for Memphis.

The Salukis take on the Lady Tigers tonight at SIU Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.