Saluki women’s basketball falls to rival Cougars
Sophomore forward Nicole Martin, 34, takes a stumble Monday, Nov. 27, 2017, during the Salukis’ loss to the SIU Edwardsville Cougars at SIU Arena. (Brian Muñoz | @BrianMMunoz)
November 28, 2017
SIU fell short, 57-53, to SIU-Edwardsville (3-1) in Monday evening’s matchup at SIU Arena.
The matchup marked the sixth time the two teams met, as SIU-Carbondale led the all-time series at 3-2.
“We have to play with more confidence,” head coach Cindy Stein said. “But sometimes you have to go through the fire to figure things out.”
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Southern struggled to get the ball in net early in the first quarter. The Salukis did not hit their first field goal until midway in the quarter when senior guard Kylie Giebelhausen sank a 3-pointer.
The Cougars did not have the same strand of bad luck that the Salukis did as they almost reached a double-digit lead over Southern and ended the first quarter with a 16-7 lead.
The Salukis found their stride in the second quarter as they brought the game within one at 24-23.
SIU struggled with ball movement in the first half as they gave up 11 turnovers. SIUE capitalized and scored 10 points off of turnovers.
The Salukis kept themselves in the game as they hit the offensive boards. SIU pulled down eight total offensive rebounds in the first half and scored nine second-chance points. Giebelhausen was SIU’s leading rebounder as she recorded nine on the night.
Southern’s defense had a strong showing in the second quarter as it held the Cougars to eight points in the second period with three blocks and two steals. Sophomore guard Kristen Nelson led the Salukis with her three blocks on the night.
The Salukis looked like a new team in the third quarter as they started off the third period with a 12-3 run that put them ahead 35-27.
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During their scoring run, Giebelhausen hit a shot from beyond the arc and earned her 1,000th career point as a Saluki. She finished the game with 13 total points.
“It’s nice to have it out of the way,” Giebelhausen said. “Going into the game it wasn’t on the front of my mind, it was more about winning.”
SIUE looked to turn the game around out of a media timeout and put up five unanswered points that put the Cougars on the back of Southern’s heels at 35-32.
The Cougars continued their late quarter charge as they put up back to back 3-pointers that ended the period tied at 42.
SIUE tried to make quick work of the Salukis in the fourth quarter and rallied with an 8-0 run of which the firsts six points came from back to back 3-pointers.
The Salukis looked to make a late comeback as freshman guard Makenzie Silvey, who led the team with 15 points, sank a contested 3-pointer that brought the score to 55-53 in favor of the Cougars with nine seconds remaining.
Southern tried to put SIUE on the free-throw line with fouls, however, with the Cougars not in the bonus yet, fouling took too much time off the clock.
In their last attempt to foul, the Cougars went backdoor on SIU and scored one final layup that was the nail in the coffin for the Salukis.
“We did this to ourselves,” Giebelhausen said. “We got a lead and got too comfortable.”
Southern had a hard time taking caring of the ball and had 21 turnovers on the evening. 11 of the turnovers came from steals.
“They overplayed us and we didn’t backdoor cut,” Giebelhausen said. “We can’t have that.”
Up next, the Salukis (3-2) will head to Morehead, Kentucky on Thursday to take on Morehead State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.
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