Southern Illinois News

Southern with another big final quarter to beat Indiana State

For the second time in three days, Southern Illinois faced a deficit heading to the fourth and for the second time in those three days, the Salukis came out with the victory as they took down Indiana State 60-58 to start 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference for the third season in a row. 

The Salukis trailed 52-41 heading to the fourth before outscoring the Sycamores 19-6 in the final frame. 

With 3.3 left, after Southern missed four-straight at the free-throw line, sophomore Laniah Randle saw Del'Janae Williams come off of a screen but Randle wasn't going to let Williams win the game for ISU as she blocked the shot to seal the victory. 

SIU Head Coach Kelly Bond-White said that's exactly what she expects from Randle. 

"That's what she brings us," she said. "The intensity and the energy."

Southern's win now gives the Salukis 10-straight wins over the Sycamores in Terre Haute. 

Shemera Williams led the way with 18 points as she's now scored double digits in her first two games this season.

"Shemera Williams, we knew how good she could be," Bond-White said. 

Williams buried a triple with about 35.0 left in the fourth to give the Salukis a 58-57 lead, the last lead they would need to gain the victory. 

Before the 3-pointer from Williams, it was a tough climb for the Salukis to get back in the game after being down 16 with 2:13 left in the third.  

In Thursday's win over Evansville, the Salukis were down 11 in the third quarter before mounting their comeback in the fourth, just as they did on Saturday against the Sycamores. 

Bond-White was asked about adversity after the game.

"We're resilient," she said. "We've created a lot of adversity for ourselves and as coaches, we try to create it in practice and try to give them that so our practice players have beat up on them quite a bit."

It was an off shooting night for the No. 2 scoring offense in the MVC as the Salukis came in averaging 76.7 points per game. Southern was 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field and hit just three 3-pointers out of 10 attempts. SIU also struggled at the line as they went 17-of-33 (51.1%). 

"We're going to go home and shoot a lot of them," Bond-White said of free throws after the game.

SIU's 20 made field goals is the second-lowest game total this season as the Salukis made just 12 in the opener against Middle Tennessee. 

Ashley Jones finished with 10 points and four rebounds for the Dawgs. 

Del'Janae Williams led the Sycamores with 16 points while Bella Finnegan added 12 points. Mya Glanton and Adrian Folks each pulled down 11 rebounds for Indiana State as they out-rebounded Southern 49-34 in the loss. 

Southern Illinois now looks to Bradley as the Braves come into the Banterra Center on Thursday. The Salukis will honor last year's MVC Regular Season championship with a banner drop, along with SIU's NIT appearance before the game. 

Original source can be found here