siuDE.com

Everything was going the Salukis way up until halftime with the game tied at 36.

But an 11-minute scoring drought in the second half doomed the SIU women's basketball team.

The Salukis were defeated Saturday afternoon by Bradley 76-59 and were outscored 40-23 in the second half. SIU's offense sputtered out of the gate in the second half shooting 8-of-31 from the field.

The scoring drought started at the 16:40 mark of the second half and didn't end until senior guard Erin Pauk nailed a 3-pointer nearly 11 minutes later.

The Salukis shot 37 percent from the field in the game on top of a 5-of-16 performance behind the 3-point line.

SIU's leading scorer Jayme Sweere was held to eight points on 4-of-11 shooting.

The senior guard from Springfield, Mo. dished out four assists in only 25 minutes of action.

Bradley, on the other hand, didn't have any problem shooting in the second half.

In the second half, the Braves shot 63 percent from the floor and took a commanding lead early and held on throughout despite shooting 6-of-12 from the free throw line during the closing stretch.

In only 24 minutes of action off the bench, freshman forward Sonya Harris contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds. She also added five blocks.

Sophomore guard Skye Johnson paced the starting five with 20 points, six assists and six steals.

Bradley is second in the Missouri Valley Conference in steals, averaging 10 per contest. The Braves (8-12, 2-7 MVC) grabbed 12 steals in the game to the Salukis' 11 and won the battle of the boards 42-24.

Lost in SIU's offensive struggles was the play of junior guard Erica Smith.

Smith's 18 points off 50 percent shooting and three rebounds led the Salukis (7-12, 3-6) but she also committed eight turnovers.

Pauk also contributed 12 points and four assists.

SIU finished its three-game road trip without a win and returns home to take on Missouri State Friday during the "Pink Out" game.

The game will be televised locally on Mediacom and a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to a benefit for breast cancer awareness.

Matt Hartwig can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 282 or at mhartwig@siu.edu

Article Tools