WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Southern Illinois 77,
SIUE 53
@Purdue 83,
Southeast Missouri 57
@Saint Louis 89,
Southern Indiana 53
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 77, SIUE 53
CARBONDALE, Ill. - SIU Carbondale took the opening points of the contest and never looked back to down SIUE, 77-53, while taking a 4-3 lead in the all-time series on Wednesday afternoon at the Banterra Center.
SIUE falls to 2-8 overall in its nonconference slate. SIU Carbondale improves to 4-4.
The Cougars shot 30 percent (17-57) overall and 2-18 from three-point range. At the free throw line, the Cougars went 17-22.
SIU Carbondale shot 44 percent (28-64) from the floor and 40 percent (6-15) from deep. The Salukis outrebounded the Cougars 44-37, including 17 on the offensive glass to score 20 points off second chance opportunities. The Salukis also forced 27 turnovers from the Cougars.
KK Rodriguez led SIUE with 13 points, her ninth consecutive game scoring in double-figures. She shot 3-8 overall and went 7-7 at the free throw line before exiting the contest in the second quarter with an apparent injury.
Macy Silvey added 10 points in 34 minutes, her fifth contest in double-figures this season. The sophomore shot 4-15 overall and 2-7 from three-point land while collecting a trio of rebounds.
Senior Olivia Clayton added nine points while commanding the Cougars on the boards with a team-high seven rebounds, good for a season best mark. Clayton and Halle Smith each contributed a block.
Four Cougars contributed four points: Brianna Wooldridge, Sofie Lowis, Molly Sheehan, and Lezhauria Williams. Lowis also grabbed a season-high six rebounds while Wooldridge concluded the game with four.
SIU Carbondale's scoring was led by Laniah Randle's 21 points.
PURDUE 83, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 57
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (2-6) dropped Wednesday night's contest at Purdue (6-3) by a final score of 83-57 from Mackey Arena.
SEMO shot 38-percent from the floor, finishing 23-for-60, and was led in scoring by guards Jaliyah Green and Daejah Richmond who each finished with 15 points.
Richmond, just a point shy of tying her career-high in points, scored all her points off the bench for SEMO in 19-minutes of action. She finished 6-for-11 from the floor, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out a game-high four assists.
Jaliyah Green did most of her damage in the second half, scoring 13 of her 15 points In the final 20-minutes. Green finished 6-for-13 shooting, snagged six rebounds, and finished a perfect 3-of-3 at the charity stripe.
As a team, the Redhawks shot 82-percent from the line (9-11).
SEMO battled on the glass as forwards Amiyah Buchanan and Abby Stephens finished with six rebounds apiece, as the duo paired up in the front court to start the contest. Stephens finished with five points, including one of SEMO's two three-pointers in the contest.
The Redhawks lost the rebounding battle by a 41-34 mark.
The Boilermakers shot a staggering 48-percent from the field in the contest and were 40-percent from three-point range. Purdue's leading scorer was forward Caitlyn Harper who finished with 22 points as one-of-four Boilermakers in double-digits.
Alecia Doyle got the scoring going for the Redhawks in the first quarter. Doyle drove the lane past Purdue's Jeanae Terry and finished at the rim for the Redhawks' first basket.
Daejah Richmond provided a nice spark off the bench for the Redhawks scoring six points and dishing out a nice assist midway through the first quarter. Richmond drove the lane and dished out a bounce pass to a cutting Julia Sion who finished with the right hand.
Purdue forced five first quarter turnovers and converted them into six points as the Boilermakers held a 23-12 lead at the end of one.
SEMO got the scoring going in the second quarter via a Sion free-throw, she split the pair to get the Redhawks to within 10 at the 9:52-mark.
The Boilermakers would respond with back-to-back baskets by Caityln Harper as she went on a 5-0 run by herself.
Trailing by 15, forward Abby Stephens cut into the Purude advantage by draining SEMO's lone three pointer of the half. With the shot clock winding down, Alecia Doyle found Stephens just outside the right-wing. She buried the triple and finished the half with three points.
Indiya Bowen drove the lane and finished with a nice reverse-layup at the 3:00-mark of the half, but the Boilermakers closed the final 2:22 on an 8-0 scoring run and led 47-24 at the end of 20-minutes.
SEMO shot just 10-for-30 from the field in the first half, and only knocked down one three-pointer (1-4). Purdue was a staggering 18-for-34 from the field, including 6-for-9 from deep.
Alecia Doyle led all Redhawks with eight points on 4-for-11 shooting. Purdue's McKenna Layden led all scorers with 10 points and was 4-for-7 from the field.
The Redhawks forced five first-half Boilermaker turnovers, turning them into four points. Four different Redhawks recorded a steal in the half.
Purdue opened the second half on an 11-0 run before Alecia Doyle knocked down the second three-pointer for SEMO in the contest at the 5:44-mark in the third.
The Boilermakers led by as many as 32 with 2:49 left in the third before the Redhawks closed the quarter on an 8-0 scoring run, starting with a nice pull-up jumper by Megan Barton in transition.
SEMO's Deajah Richmond continued the trend when she grabbed a defensive rebound and drove coast-to-coast to finish the fast-break layup to get SEMO within 28.
A pair of Jaliyah Green free-throws and an Abby Stephens made jump shot ended the quarter with SEMO getting to within 24 at the third quarter horn.
Back-to-back baskets by Purdue to start the fourth quarter were answered by Daejah Richmond who finished a beautiful turnaround jumper in the lane. She then made a free throw to cut the Purdue lead to 26.
Buchanan made the game's final three-points as she scored a jumper in the lane, took the contact, and completed the old-fashioned three as SEMO fell 83-57.
SAINT LOUIS 89, SOUTHERN INDIANA 53
ST. LOUIS - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball faced some tough luck on the road at Chaifetz Arena on Wednesday night, as good looks on the offensive end refused to fall for the Screaming Eagles in an 89-53 loss against Saint Louis University.
Tough defense ruled in the early minutes of the game, as Saint Louis carried only a 2-0 lead through the first four minutes of action. Despite good looks on the offensive end early on, USI was finally able to get the ball to go through the net in the middle of the first quarter. The Eagles built a 7-0 run that began with two inside looks before a three-pointer by sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana). Saint Louis responded with an 11-0 run over three minutes, leading to a 13-9 advantage into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Saint Louis gradually increased its lead. At the 6:48 mark of the second, Saunders drilled her second three-pointer of the game to bring USI back within seven, 21-14. Following some back-and-forth play, the Billikens extended their lead with an 11-0 run in the back half of the period, taking a 39-18 lead. Before halftime, USI received a couple of baskets from freshman guard Triniti Ralston (Louisville, Kentucky) and freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) to make the score 41-22 in favor of Saint Louis at the intermission.
Getting the ball to cooperate and go through the net continued to plague the Eagles in the first three minutes of the second half. Junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) got USI on the scoreboard in the third quarter with a putback layup. Meanwhile, the Billikens' offense stayed hot from the field, building on their advantage with a 55-27 lead at the third-quarter timeout.
Then USI's defense clamped down on Saint Louis' half-court offense, holding the Billikens without a field goal from the floor for over four minutes. On the other end, Southern Indiana's offense picked up with seven straight points, including a triple from Shafford. After a small spurt from Saint Louis, USI ended the third with a steal and a layup by graduate guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) to make the score 64-38 through three quarters.
Southern Indiana continued to get contributions from the freshmen off the bench in the fourth period. Guard Sophia Loden (Mascoutah, Illinois) knocked down a trey and scored in the paint for a quick five points while also getting it done defensively. Near the end of the fourth stanza, Shafford scored five straight points for USI to reach double figures for the fifth consecutive outing.
For the game, Southern Indiana shot 38 percent (23-61) with six triples. The Eagles collected 28 rebounds. Shafford led the Screaming Eagles with 14 points and seven rebounds. Gannon and Saunders each finished with nine points. Saunders hit three from beyond the arc in the game.
For Saint Louis, the Billikens were 44 percent (32-73) from the field with 11 three-pointers. The Billikens grabbed 53 rebounds. Saint Louis had five players score double digits, including a game-high 27 points by graduate guard Kyla McMakin.