by The Valpo women’s basketball team saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end on Friday evening as it opened Missouri Valley Conference play, falling to a strong Southern Illinois squad by a 67-51 final at the ARC.
How It Happened
- Both squads were hitting from everywhere to start the game, as Valpo went 7-of-9 from the field – including 3-of-3 from 3-point range – in the opening quarter and Southern Illinois went 8-of-13.
- The Salukis led by as many as five points in the first quarter and held a 22-19 lead at the end of one.
- Junior Grace White (Ojibwe) scored the first five points over the opening 2:40 of the second quarter to give Valpo its first outright lead, 24-22.
- Southern Illinois reclaimed the lead before a steal and fast-break layup from sophomore Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) tied things up at 29-29 with four minutes to play in the first half.
- SIU out-scored Valpo 11-4 over the final stretch of the period to go into halftime with a 40-33 lead.
- The third quarter was the antithesis of the first, as the two teams combined for just three made field goals. Valpo went without a basket from the field for the final seven minutes of the quarter, and the Salukis held a 51-42 advantage with 10 minutes to play.
- A 3-pointer by junior Caitlin Morrison (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) cut SIU’s lead to 51-45 with 9:03 to play in the game, but that was as close as Valpo would get, as the Salukis scored 10 of the next 12 points over a span of 2:40 to pull away.
Inside the Game
- Friday’s loss snapped Valpo’s seven-game winning streak, just the seventh-such winning streak in program history. It was the team’s first loss since Nov. 21.
- The defeat was also the Crusaders’ first of the season at the ARC after going 4-0 at home in non-conference play.
- The loss came against a Southern Illinois team which came into the day ranked in the top-75 in the nation in RPI and jumped into the top-60 with the win. Three of Valpo’s four defeats this year have come against top-60 teams in the RPI.
- Valpo ended the night shooting just 31.3% from the floor, and the offensive output was a tale of two halves. The Brown and Gold went into halftime having shot 50% in the first half, including a 5-of-9 mark from the 3-point line, but then were just 4-of-26 (15.4%) from the field in the second half.
- Defensively, Valpo limited SIU to 38.6% (22-of-57) shooting for the game, including a 6-of-27 (22.2%) mark from the field in the final 20 minutes.
- White added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, her third straight game scoring in double figures.
- Valpo was out-rebounded 46-26 by the Salukis on Friday, including 18 SIU offensive rebounds.
