Five players were in double-digit figures in Friday’s Saluki women’s basketball victory over sister school SIUE.

Leading the pack for Southern was junior guard Makenzie Silvey who tied her career high of 28 points.

Entering into the matchup, the all-time series between the two teams was tied evenly at 3-3, but the Salukis were able to break the tie and take a small one-game lead in the series with this win.

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Before tonight’s victory, Southern have not won a game against its sister school since 2015 and have not won a matchup in Edwardsville since 2012.

The Salukis kicked off the scoring in the first quarter with a quick layup from senior forward Nicole Martin.

Edwardsville responded to Martin’s basket with by draining a three-point jumper on the next possession to take a small one-point lead.

After this three-point shot, SIU was able to regain the lead and hold onto it throughout the course of the first half.

Leading the Salukis on the offensive end from the beginning was Silvey who tallied 15 points in the first quarter making three shots from behind the arc and three from the inside.

With six minutes left to play in the first half, Southern extended their lead to 38-23 with another three-pointer from Silvey and an inside shot from junior forward Abby Brockmeyer.

Redshirt junior forward Gabby Walker entered the game for SIU as a substitute for Martin and scored eight consecutive points, helping to extend the score to 46-29.

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After a made basket from the Cougars, Silvey silenced the crowd by draining her fifth three-pointer of the game to notch her 21st point of the first half.

A step back three-pointer from SIUE brought the score up to 51-35, but SIU answered this with a three-point jumper of their own from sophomore guard Caitlyn Link.

Link’s jumper tallied Southern’s ninth three-pointer of the half and shot the Saluki lead up to 20 points entering halftime.

The most three-pointers SIU had had in a single game was ten, and they came within just one of this record in the first half alone, tonight.

Silvey was the first scorer of the second half as she scored a layup down the middle of the lane, but the Cougars were quick to respond on the next possession with a layup of their own to make it 59-39 with the Salukis still in a comfortable lead.

Martin sat out the majority of the first half due to foul trouble, but entered the second half with a hot hand scoring three back-to-back layups for SIU.

Southern’s offense remained hot in the second half led by Martin and Silvey, who hit the Saluki’s tenth three-pointer of the game to tie the record.

Before the end of the third period, Silvey had already notched 26 points with more than half of her baskets coming from behind the arc.

Another two-point basket from Walker and a pair of free throws from Brockmeyer gave both of the junior forwards ten points each, bringing the number of Southern players in double figures tonight to four.

Sophomore guard Payton McCallister drained her first three-point jumper of the game to extend the SIU lead to 76-47.

This jumper also helped the Salukis to break the record for most three-pointers made as a team with eleven.

Martin went to the line for Southern Illinois and drained two free throws to earn her 11th point of the game making her the fifth player on the team to enter into double-digit scoring range.

With time expiring in the third quarter, the Cougars scored a runner down the lane to put two points on the board, but SIU had the final say with a layup from junior forward Awa Keita just before the buzzer sounded.

Keita’s basket pushed the score to 83-56 as the game entered its final quarter.

The Salukis continued to dominate in the fourth quarter continuing to extend their lead over the Edwardsville team into the 30’s.

With a layup in traffic, Silvey earned her 28th point of the game coming with just one of her career high. 

When time started to wind down, things slowed for Southern as far as scoring, and the Cougars were able to score three straight baskets to make the score 93-65.

After a timeout called by Saluki head coach Cindy Stein, the team picked up the tempo on offense to score five unanswered layups bringing the lead up to 103-65.

This was the most points the Southern women’s team had scored since November of 2016 and only one point away from the school record.

The Cougars scored the final basket of the game leaving the score at 103-67, but these points barely scratched the surface of SIU’s massive lead. 

You can catch the Salukis on the court again in Indianapolis as they take on the IUPUI Jaguars at 6 p.m. Nov. 12.

Sports reporter Tamar Mosby can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @mosbytamar.

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