SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Missouri State Lady Bears (7-7, 3-0 MVC) used a strong second-quarter to defeat the Southern Illinois Salukis, 66-51 Sunday afternoon inside JQH Arena.
The Salukis (8-6, 1-2 MVC) trailed by just five at the end of the first quarter but went cold from the floor in the second quarter. Southern made just 1-of-12 attempts in the period and were outscored 14-4 in the frame. SIU’s offensive struggles allowed Missouri State to build a comfortable 15-point advantage, 29-14, at the end of the first half.
Southern got to within nine, 40-31 with 3:32 to play in the third thanks to a 7-0 run by Nicole Martin<https://siusalukis.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3524> that included her first three-pointer of the season. That was as close as the Salukis could get though.
“We didn’t stick to our game plan defensively and our frustration on the defensive end led to poor offense where we started rushing and didn’t take good shots,” sixth-year head coach Cindy Stein<https://siusalukis.com/coaches.aspx?rc=599> said. “That can’t happen.”
Martin finished with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks. It marked the fourth-straight game that Martin has scored in double figures and the 11th time she has done so this season. Makenzie Silvey<https://siusalukis.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3528> joined Martin in double figures, as she added 10 points and tied her career-best with seven boards in 27 minutes. Abby Brockmeyer<https://siusalukis.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3519> finished two points shy of a double-double, as she tallied eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Alexa Willard carried the load for the Lady Bears, as she finished with 18 points and three rebounds. Missouri State did much of its damage in the paint and at the charity stripe. The Lady Bears scored 44 of their 66 (66.7%) points in the paint and went 16-of-25 from the free throw line. Southern, conversely, scored 20 points in the paint and went just 5-of-8 from the charity stripe.
“I felt like we fought hard and we competed for the most part,” Stein said. “But its just the little details that we continually have to talk about and we got away from the game plan. We put them on the line 25 times- we talked about from the get-go that we didn’t want to foul them, we wanted to contain them and we wanted to keep them from getting to the paint. (Missouri State) scored 44 points in the paint so we obviously didn’t do that very well.”
SIU did hold Missouri State without a three-pointer, as the Lady Bears were 0-of-3 from behind the arc. It marked the first time since Dec. 30, 2016 that Southern has held an opponent without a three-pointer.
The Salukis return to action on Friday, Jan. 18 when they travel to Bloomington, Ill. to take on the Illinois State Redbirds. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
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