University of Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Panther Offense Struggles in 58-40 Loss at SIU
2/7/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2009
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team was never able to find its offensive rhythm on Saturday afternoon, committing 23 turnovers and scoring a season-low 40 points in a 58-40 loss at Southern Illinois in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Kim Wypiszynski led UNI (7-14, 5-6 MVC) with 14 points, and K.K. Armstrong finished with 11.
Jasmine Gibson and Alex Hart each finished with 11 points for SIU (7-13, 3-8).
The Panthers missed their first six field goal attempts and turned the ball over six times through the first seven minutes to allow Southern Illinois to build an early 10-2 lead. Kim Wypiszynski hit a pair of free throws and then connected for UNI's first field goal at 12:14 to trim SIU's lead to 10-6. Erin Brocka hit a three from the left baseline at 10:23 to pull the Panthers within one, 10-9.
K.K. Armstrong answered a basket by Adrianne Griffith to keep the Panther deficit to one, 12-11. However, SIU rattled off six straight points to stretch its lead to 18-11 with 6:59 left in the half.
A free throw from Wypiszynski made it a six-point contest, but Kaci Bailey connected from behind the arc twice to double the Salukis' lead and double-up the Panthers, 24-12 with 4:54 left in the half. Griffith made a pair of free throws, and Alex Hart scored on a layup to cap a 16-1 run by SIU and put the Salukis in front 28-12 with 3:33 on the clock.
Wypiszynski made a pair of free throws and Lindsey Swanson drove into the lane and scored to pull the Panthers within a dozen, 28-16.
Karlee Meyers made a pair of free throws, and Hart knocked down a three from the top of the key to stretch the SIU advantage to 33-16.
Armstrong made one of two free throws with 35 seconds left, but Meyers scored on a layup with 10 seconds on the clock to put the Salukis up 35-17. Armstrong was fouled with .6 seconds on the clock, and her pair of free throws sent the Panthers into the locker room trailing, 35-19.
Wypiszyski scored on UNI's first possession, but SIU scored the game's next seven points to build a 42-21 lead with 16:20 to play.
Lizzie Boeck scored at 13:50 to end a six-minute scoring drought for the Panthers, and Armstrong scored on a layup to bring the score to 42-25. Erika Smith knocked down a three from the right side to return the 20-point lead to the Salukis, 45-25 with 11:35 remaining.
A pair of free throws from Armstrong made it an 18-point contest, but SIU got a free throw from Myers and a three from Smith to extend its lead to 49-27 at 9:11.
The Salukis led by at least 19 until a layup from Rachel Madrigal at 2:35 cut the SIU lead to 55-38. Madrigal answered a three-point play from Hart with a basket to bring the final score to 58-40 in favor of the Salukis.
UNI finished 13-of-40 (30.2 percent) from the floor, including 1-of-9 (11 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers shot just 4-of-16 (25 percent) from the floor in the first half. UNI was 13-of-24 (54.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Salukis finished 21-of-45 from the floor, including 6-of-20 (30 percent) from behind the arc. SIU finished 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday when they play at South Dakota at 7:05 p.m.
