On Friday afternoon, SIU women’s basketball took on the No. 5 Indiana State Sycamores in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and walked away with a 69-67 victory.

Down by 12 points with six remaining in the final period, Southern put together a 15-0 run set up by back-to-back 3-pointers from senior guard Kylie Giebelhausen and earned its first lead of the game.

The offensive outbreak overwhelmed the Sycamores and the Salukis completed their late comeback and finished 69-67.

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SIU, the No. 4 seed in the tournament,  advanced to the semifinal round for the second consecutive season.

ISU was in control at the start of the game as the Sycamores jumped to a 14-2 lead just five minutes into the opening quarter.

The Salukis struggled for the entire first period as they only put up nine points and trailed by 10 after the first 10 minutes.

After it gave up an early 3-pointer in the second, SIU battled back into the game with a 12-2 run sparked by a shot from beyond the arc from freshman guard Makenzie Silvey that narrowed the ISU lead to three. Silvey finished with 11 points and four assists.

The teams traded buckets for the remainder of the quarter and the Sycamores carried a 30-27 lead to the half.

The third quarter proved to be one-sided in favor of the Sycamores, who outscored the Salukis 27-14.

With 25 seconds left in the third, Indiana State increased the lead to 18 points, its largest lead of the game.

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Following the Giebelhausen-sparked 15-0 run, the Salukis remained strong and walked away with a narrow 69-67 victory.

Giebelhuasen led all scorers with 20 points along with three assists, two steals and nine rebounds, one shy of a double-double.

The Salukis will take on the Drake Bulldogs tomorrow in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.

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