Jan. 13, 2007

Final Stats

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -

The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team was able to trim a 17-point second-half deficit to three, but was not able to completely close the gap in a 79-75 loss to Southern Illinois in the McLeod Center on Saturday.

            Tara King led the Panthers with 23 points, scoring her 1000^th career point in the process. King also led UNI with nine rebounds. Jessie Biggs finished with 17 points and six assists, and Lindsey Swanson added 13. Danielle Wubbens scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the loss. Sarah Larsen finished with seven assists and just one turnover for UNI.

            Five Salukis scored in double figures, led by Jayme Sweere, who finished with 18. Dana Olsen scored 16 points, and Carlai Moore added 14. Debbie Burris finished with 11 points, and Erica Smith dumped in 10.

            The game stood tied at 10 at the 12:30 mark of the first half. The Salukis then went on a 16-2 run to build a 26-12 lead with 8:05 on the clock. SIU went on to lead by as many as 18 points, and the Salukis took a 38-24 lead into the break.

            Trailing 48-32, UNI went on a 9-0 run that cut the Saluki lead to single digits, 48-41 with 13:17 to play.  Just over a minute later, Biggs hit a layup that pulled UNI to within five, 45-50 with 11:43 on the clock.

            Sweere put SIU back on top by double figures when she hit a pair of free throws at 8:29 to make the score 59-49.

            The Salukis stretched its lead back to 17 on a free throw from Erica Smith that put SIU up 68-51 with 5:02 remaining.

            The Panthers scored 10 unanswered points to pull within six, 69-63 with 1:59 to play.

            Smith hit a layup to put SIU back up by eight, but King answered for the Panthers. Wubbens was fouled as she grabbed a defensive rebound, and she hit the second free free throw to pull the Panthers within five, 71-66 with 50 seconds to play.

            The Panthers sent Olsen to free-throw line, and she put SIU back up by seven. After Biggs pulled the Panthers to within six with a free throw with 37 seconds left, but after being sent to the line, Moore put SIU back in front by eight with 34 seconds remaining.

            Wubbens made a layup with 27 seconds left to bring UNI within six, then UNI sent Smith to the line. Smith hit her second free throw with 22 seconds left to stretch the Saluki lead to seven, 76-69.

            A layup from Biggs pulled the Panthers to within five, and then Burris made one of two free-throw attempts on the other end to give SIU a 77-71 lead with 13 seconds on the clock.

            Biggs made another layup as she was fouled, pulling UNI within four with just nine seconds to play. She missed the free throw, but Wubbens grabbed the rebound and was fouled in the process, sending her to the line with five seconds left. She made the first to bring the score to 77-74.

            That was the closest the Panthers would get as Burris knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win for the Salukis.

            The Panthers shot 26-of-56 (46.4 percent) from the floor, and just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from behind the arc. UNI finished 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) from the free-throw line.

            The Salukis were 28-of-51 (54.9 percent) from the floor, and 2-of-5 (40 percent) from three-point range. SIU finished 21-of-27 (77.8 percent) from the charity stripe.

            SIU held the rebounding advantage, 35-28. SIU turned nine offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

            The Panthers return to action on Friday when they play at Missouri State.