Salukis edge Evansville, end 11-game skid

Pinkston's late three-pointer breaks tie

It finally happened.

The SIU women's basketball snapped its 11-game losing streak after defeating Evansville 84-80.

With under 20 ticks left on the clock, Dana Pinkston corralled a loose ball and tried to take it coast-to-coast. After the Purples Aces' defense suffocated the lane, Pinkston ventured behind the three-point line and nailed what would prove to be the game-winning shot.

"I haven't had any success driving, so I figured it would be a higher percentage shot," said Pinkston, who led all Saluki scorers with 22 points.

Head coach Lori Opp said Pinkston was the right person to take the shot since she held the hot hand as evident of her 6-of-9 shooting from behind the arc.

Pinkston would have never been thrust into the position if the Salukis (5-14, 1-9) never allowed Evansville (9-10, 3-7) to make a 9-0 scoring run in the final two minutes to tie the contest at 80-80.

SIU's run at the beginning of the second half was more impressive.

Down 44-31 at the opening of the second stanza, the Salukis managed to outscore the Purple Aces 53-36 on 58 percent shooting from the field and 71 percent from behind the three-point line.

Opp said the Salukis have made a change in their offense, which proved to be highly successful.

"We have gone away from trying to run sets," Opp said of the new offensive philosophy. "We have gone away from trying to run too many things because we didn¢â¡Át fell like we were doing it very successfully.

"If you can't set a good screen and use a screen, you won't do very good. They settled down."

Katie Berwanger balanced the scoring attack with her inside presence, finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

The junior forward also helped hold Evansville standout Jamie Gray to just one point in the second half after she tallied 13 in the first stanza.

Entering the game, Gray averaged 17.4 points and 11 rebounds per game.

Senior guard Molly McDowell added 16 points and five assists, while fellow backcourt mate Hillary Phillips chipped in 12 points and seven assists.

The Dawgs will look to continue their solid play at 7:05 p.m. Friday when they take on the Drake Bulldogs at the SIU Arena.

Drake blew out the Salukis 76-46 on Jan. 18 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs had three players score more than 15 points in the game, led by superstar Carla Bennett, who poured in 22 points.

The Salukis' leading scorer in that game was Tiffany Crutcher, who managed a meager seven points.

"This would be a great time to start a streak," Opp said. "As a staff, momentum wise, we know these players can do good things."

Reporter Zack Creglow can be reached at zcreglow@dailyegyptian.com