Story by Gage Johnson
Senior writer
A pair of Salukis and an unordinary third quarter led to a 65-59 loss for the Murray State women’s basketball team on Tuesday.
Coming off of a 26-point home victory against Bethel University, the Racers picked up right where they left off in the first quarter against Southern Illinois University, jumping out to an 18-10 lead thanks to nine early points from junior forward Evelyn Adebayo.
SIU would bounce back in the second quarter outscoring Murray State 17-11, but still trailing 29-27 heading into the locker room.
It took two minutes of play in the second half for someone to put one through the net, but once the Salukis did, they couldn’t miss.
Junior guard Kristen Nelson’s three, one of her four on the night, would trigger a 16-0 run for SIU. Not only were they clicking on offense, but on defense as well. After stopping the run, the Racers would still go on to be outscored 23-7 in the third quarter.
“We can’t go stagnant like that,” said Head Coach Rechelle Turner. “We can’t give good teams opportunities to take advantage of us. You can’t do that at this level, especially if you’re not getting continuous stops.”
Another major factor in the Salukis outpouring on offense were contributions from Nelson and sophomore guard Makenzie Silvey.
Nelson was 8-10 from the field, knocking down 4-4 threes en route to leading all scorers with 24 points. Silvey also added a 23-point performance, as the 2017-2018 MVC All-Freshman team selection shot 8-13, while shooting 3-6 from beyond the arch. The two were the only ones in double figures for SIU, with no other player scoring more than six points.
“Silvey is outstanding,” Turner said. “She’s a crafty, clever player; one of the best in the Missouri Valley Conference . Just like most do, every team has someone that when they need a bucket they can go to, and she was that for them. Then I thought Nelson hit some big shots. She can shoot the basketball.”
The Racers would outscore the Salukis 23-15 in the fourth quarter, but it would be for not as Murray State would fall to SIU 65-59.
The Racers will now hit the road for their toughest stretch of the season, taking on the No. 18 University of Kentucky, and No. 9 University of Tennessee. First will be a trip to take on the Wildcats at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 21, at the Memorial Coliseum.
