Fouls and turnovers proved to be Southern’s downfall in tonight’s loss to the IUPUI Jaguars. 

There were 21 Saluki fouls committed in tonight’s game, which was three more than what the opposing Jaguars had on the night. Nearly half of SIU’s fouls were committed in the first quarter alone. 

As for turnovers, Southern tallied 16 on the night, which is two above what they averaged last season. 

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Despite these facts, the Salukis fought their way back to take the lead several times after trailing for the entire first half. 

Tonight’s matchup was just the fourth meeting of the two programs, with SIU having won the previous two face-offs between the teams. 

Southern’s 78-73 overtime win last season was the most recent in the series with the one prior to it being in 2011.

Before taking on the Jaguars tonight, the Salukis were coming off of a 103-point win over the SIUE Cougars. 

An early call on SIU junior forward Abby Brockmeyer got things started for IUPUI as they were able to sink two free throws to gain the first lead of the game at 2-0.

After another Jaguar basket, senior forward Nicole Martin opened up scoring for Southern with a layup.

Despite Saluki junior guard Makenzie Silvey getting to a quick start with two consecutive jumpers, IUPUI had already gotten hot scoring on nearly every possession.

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Three unanswered baskets from the Jaguars put them ahead with the score at 21-11.

Two layups from Martin and a two-point jump shot from senior guard Kristen Nelson were able to close the gap a small portion, but failure to stop Jaguar scoring on defense kept Southern behind.

Nelson’s jump shot ended first quarter scoring with SIU trailing 24-17.

In the second period, foul trouble continued to be a problem for the Salukis and curtailed their efforts to take the lead as the IUPUI players continued to be sent to the line. 

A 4-1 Southern scoring run late in the period, featuring a steal and lay-in from junior forward Awa Keita, nearly alleviated the entire deficit bringing them within three points of their opponents with the score being 31-28.

In the final seconds of the quarter, a layup from Martin brought SIU within one point of the Jaguars, but a Saluki foul with one second left to play gave IUPUI the chance to shoot two free throws.

The first half ended with a score of 40-37 on a pair of Jaguar-made free throws. 

In the third quarter, the Salukis started off hot with Brockmeyer scoring the first points of the second half on an “and-one” layup to tie it up for the first time of the night at 40-40.

After a quick basket from IUPUI, Southern was back down the court to score, this time with a three-point basket from sophomore guard Payton McCallister.

McCallister’s shot gave SIU its first lead of the game at 43-42.

The score remained close in this quarter and tied a total of five more times before the Jaguars (2-0) got a small amount of distance in the final minute of the quarter scoring two back-to-back baskets.

McCallister had the final say in this quarter as it ended with a made jumper from the sophomore guard, putting the Salukis back in close range at 63-60. 

Similar to the previous quarter, Brockmeyer kicked off the scoring in the final period with a layup to make it a one-point game.

Fouls got the best of SIU once again and gave the Jaguars an easy scoring opportunity.

The free throws shot by IUPUI after Brockmeyer’s layup gave the Indianapolis team a boost in momentum as they went on to score two consecutive baskets to extend their lead to 69-62.

After falling behind by nearly ten points, SIU found its footing scoring four straight baskets, with two coming from Brockmeyer, to tie the score once again at 74-74. 

Two consecutive IUPUI baskets gave them a small, four-point lead, but a jumper from Silvey took the lead down to two with just under a minute left to play. 

With the time remaining in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars scored leaving only a small amount of time for the Salukis to score. 

During this time, Nelson stepped up to the plate and scored a game-tying basket to keep Southern in it at 78-78 with under 10 seconds left to play.

The Jaguars attacked the basket in the remaining time and scored an “and-one” layup to clinch the win over the Salukis at 81-78.

The women’s basketball team will take the floor again this Saturday in the Banterra Center against the Tennessee Tech University Golden Eagles. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

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

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