CARBONDALE, Ill. \u2013\u00a0Seeking their first conference win of the season, the Southern Illinois women’s basketball team (4-11, 1-5) welcomed Valparaiso (0-17, 0-6) to Carbondale on Saturday afternoon. SIU controlled the whole game, eventually winning 97-59 and scoring their most points in a game since January, 2024.\u00a0
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\nInside the Box Score<\/p>\n
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\n\tJeniah Thompson<\/a> dropped a career-high 25 points to complete a double-double with her 14 rebounds.\u00a0
\n\tIndya Green<\/a>, Kayla Cooper<\/a>, and Tkiyah Nelson<\/a> all hit 10+ points too, with 19, 11, and 10.\u00a0
\n\tSouthern thrived at the free-throw line, converting 21 times out of 32 attempts.\u00a0
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\nHow it Happened
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\nFirst Quarter
\nThompson got the Salukis off on the right foot with a three-point play thanks to an and-one. Valparaiso did hit back with a 4-0 run, but six straight points from the Salukis put them back on top, 9-4.\u00a0
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\nA layup from the Beacons made it a one-possession game, but Karris Allen<\/a> hit a jumper to make a five-point game. Valparaiso hit a three to bring it back to a two-point game. However, Alayna Kraus<\/a> knocked down a three of her own to up SIU’s lead to five. Cooper hit a layup and Kynnedi Davis<\/a> knocked down a free throw to make it 19-11.
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\nValparaiso hit a layup, but with 70 seconds left, the Salukis dropped eight points to take a 27-13 lead into the second quarter.\u00a0
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\nSecond Quarter
\nThe squads traded buckets to open the second quarter through the first two and a half minutes before a 4-0 Valparaiso run made it 34-19. The Beacons eventually made it a 13-point game at the 5:31 mark before Cooper nailed a three.\u00a0
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\nAnother Beacon run closed the gap to 12 points, 39-27. At 3:09, Southern began a 7-0 run to build their lead all the way up to 20, 49-29. After Valparaiso closed the lead down to 15, Southern scored the final three points of the quarter to lead 52-34 as the halftime break hit.\u00a0
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\nThird Quarter\u00a0
\nThe first three points of the second half belonged to the Beacons, but Southern scored the next six to increase their lead to 58-37. Following a jumper from Valparaiso and a couple of free throws from both squads, a big 10-0 Southern run made it 70-42 in their favor.\u00a0
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\nValparaiso stopped the run with a layup, but SIU picked it right back up with four straight points. The last layup of the quarter belonged to the Beacons, who cut the lead down to 74-44 heading into the final frame of play.\u00a0
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\nFourth Quarter
\nComing out of the break, Valparaiso could only muster two free throws in the opening two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter as Southern outscored the Beacons 11-2. After playing even ball until the 5:46 mark, the Beacons hit three free throws and Carmen Morales<\/a> made a layup to make it 93-55 with five minutes to play.\u00a0
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\nThe teams tied 4-4 over the last five minutes to secure SIU’s 97-59 win.\u00a0
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\nUp Next
\nAfter a few days off from competition, the Salukis resume play on Thursday, Jan. 15, with a 6 p.m. game against Murray State.\u00a0
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\nFollow the Salukis
\nKeep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at\u00a0@SIU_WBasketball<\/a>, on Instagram at\u00a0@SIU_WBasketball<\/a>, and on Facebook at\u00a0Facebook.com\/SalukiAthletics<\/a>. Fans can also download the “Salukis” Mobile App on the\u00a0App Store<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Google Play Store<\/a>.\u00a0
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