DeKalb, Ill. - A constant one-possession game, the Western Illinois women's basketball team was held to nine points in the fourth quarter by Southern Illinois to fall 79-65 on Thursday (Dec. 19) to open the Compass Challenge.
The tournament opener was a show inside the NIU Convocation Center with 11 lead changes, and nine separate times the Salukis and Leathernecks were tied.
Before the tight third-quarter buzzer echoed, Southern Illinois drilled a three-pointer to tie it 56-56 into the final ten minutes. The bucket turned out to be the turning point of the in-state battle as SIU went off for 23 points and held the Leathernecks to nine for a chance to repeat as champions.
Similar to Tuesday's outing, Sam Pryor came off the bench and drilled the long ball. She nailed two three-pointers as the Leathernecks forced eight turnovers to lead 18-16 at the end of the first quarter.
The Salukis responded and opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to regain the lead. Back-to-back threes from Danni Nichols put a halt to the run and tied the game 24-24 at 6:22. Seven ties highlighted the first half as Western-owned a one-point advantage (35-34) into the half behind Carla Flores' four assists.
Evan Zars led Western to own the paint battle (36-26) with a double-double (10 reb.) for a career-high 13 points.
The Leathernecks will take on the loser of the Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois game to conclude the Compass Challenge and non-league play.
