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Otahkians chop Salukis

The Salukis' loss to Southeast Missouri State Wednesday night marked their 14th straight loss, dating back to January of 2004, when they beat Bradley in Peoria.

Despite the 77-56 steamrolling, SIU head coach Dana Eikenberg was pleased with aspects of the Salukis' game. Compared to a stronger, larger team like SEMO, the Salukis shouldn't have been able to hang with the Otahkians at all, Eikenberg said.

The Salukis did hang - at least for around 24 minutes of the game.

After the 15-minute mark, SIU never saw the lead again after Tatiana Conceicao dropped a jumper to give SEMO a 7-9 lead.

But the Salukis didn't give up, even after a full-court trap limited senior guards Danette Jones and Daphney Desamours to only 12 points in the first half. The two Salukis weren't the only athletes having trouble finding the bottom of the basket, though.

As if the frigid air found its way into the SIU Arena, both teams posted meager field goal percentages. The Otahkians, a team scoring an average of 86 points a game, shot only 34.4 percent in the first half. SIU shot slightly lower at 32 percent.

SIU was unable to capitalize on the uncharacteristically cold Otahkians, and instead found itself in foul trouble. Eleven fouls in the first half led to seven successful SEMO free throws. With a little more than seven minutes left in the half, SEMO amassed a 16-point lead. SIU made a small 6-0 run sparked by freshman guard Elyse Morris when she drained a jumper to bring the Salukis within 15 points.

After Jones sunk a three-pointer, only her second field goal of the half, the Salukis trailed 20-28.

SIU entered the locker room down by 10, 22-32, after a last-second jumper by SEMO.

Despite the deficit, the Salukis showed fire and determination as they walked off the court.

"We were a little bit more aggressive," Eikenberg said. "I really liked the way we were rebounding."

SEMO continued to employ the full court trap in the second half, and it obviously began to take its toll on Desamours. The speedy guard began to misstep a bit while trying to avoid two Otahkian defenders on almost every trip down the court.

"I was prepared for it because coach told us about it," Desamours said. "I expect it all year. I don't like it."

The Salukis' foul troubles followed them into the second half as well, with senior Wendy Goodman, sophomore Bernettra Grayer and Morris all fouling out as the last 20 minutes wore on.

Desamours picked up the slack, leading the team with 13 rebounds, nine of which were offensive. At 5-2, she is the shortest Saluki on the team, leading to the obvious question of how she can do it.

Eikenberg wasn't surprised, and said Desamours likes to camp under the basket to gain some precious time to rest.

"She has a great vertical jump," Eikenberg said. "On the flip-side, I'm a little disappointed in my post-players parked down there not coming away with it."

Rebounds weren't needed when a trading of bombs occurred with 14 minutes left in the game. Junior guard Amy Hayden dropped two treys in a row, but SEMO's Natalie Purcell answered back with one of her own. Jones then hit another three for the Salukis to narrow the lead, 40-44.

But it seemed as if the three-point rally drained the Salukis of whatever energy they had left. Fatigue wore on the Salukis and SEMO quickly ran away with the game, improving its field goal percentage to 48.1.

With less than a minute left, the Otahkians added four more points to not only put the nail in the coffin, but also bury SIU at 56-77.

Still, Eikenberg said the Salukis played the type of defense against SEMO that could have made a difference in previous games.

"We played to their speed for a long time," Eikenberg said. "We never really got into the flow, and now we just have to find a happy medium to handle it."