Indiana University
Southern Illinois
Hoosiers Battle to 64-59 Win over Southern Illinois
12/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2005
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Indiana women's basketball team fended off a persistent Southern Illinois basketball squad to garner its second straight road win with a 64-59 victory on Dec. 3 in Carbondale, Ill. The Hoosiers evened their record at 3-3 overall while the Salukis fell to 3-2 on the season.
"I am really proud of this crew tonight," head coach Sharon Versyp said. " We did what we needed to do to win. We are starting to recognize some really good things on the court and really executed plays coming out of the timeouts. I am glad we had a close game."
The senior duo of forward Jenny DeMuth and guard Cyndi Valentin led the Hoosiers with 13 and 19 points, respectively. DeMuth chipped in her 12th career double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds and a 9-for-10 mark from the free-throw line while Valentin ended the game with four assists.
In an even start for both squads, Indiana stood dead even at four with the Salukis before Valentin sparked a 10-point run. Scoring nine points within the first five minutes of action and going a perfect 4-for-4, Valentin propelled the Hoosiers to a 13-4 lead with nearly 15 minutes left in the first stanza.
Southern Illinois slowly battled back into the game to take its first lead, 17-15, with a little over nine minutes left. Momentarily stalled at 15, the Hoosiers fired into second gear behind the shooting of freshman Whitney Thomas (7 point, XX rebounds) and DeMuth combined to give the Hoosiers back the lead at 28-18
IU entered the break with a slight advantage, 33-30, as Southern Illinois' defense and the play of sophomore Jayme Sweere slashed the once double-digit Indiana lead to three.
Out of the locker room, Valentin and DeMuth began where they left off, knocking down a couple of quick baskets to extend the lead to eight. However, the Salukis responded with a tenacious effort on the boards and a stingy defense that caused three early turnovers, closed the lead to two, 41-39, and 15 minutes to play in the game.
In a balanced offensive effort that saw every participating Hoosier score, Indiana remained ahead of the Salukis coming down the stretch. Sophomore guard Nikki Smith, netting a pair of three-point baskets, extended the cushion to seven at 60-53 with just under eight minutes left in the game.
The Hoosiers fought off the Salukis in the final four minutes with a solid 4-for-4 effort from DeMuth and Valentin at the charity stripe to solidify the 64-59 victory.
The Hoosiers return to action on Dec. 4 as they continue their four-game road trip against Louisville at 1 p.m.
