Mercer women edged by Southern Illinois

Mercer women's basketball head coach Susie Gardner was correct in her prediction that Saturday's game against Southern Illinois would be about possessions.

The visiting Salukis created a host of extra ones for themselves with a superb offensive rebounding effort to pull out a 55-52 win over the Bears at Hawkins Arena.

Southern Illinois' rebounding work made up for 30.2 percent shooting from the floor, including a 26.5 percent effort in the second half.

The Salukis (6-4) collected 23 offensive rebounds on the way to a 43-30 overall margin against Mercer (6-5).

None of those rebounds on the offensive end was bigger than one off a missed foul shot with 6.1 seconds left and the Salukis leading 53-52. Kim Nebo's miss came hard off the front iron, and she was able to tip it back out of the lane. Teammate Cartaesha Macklin corralled the ball and was fouled.

Macklin hit both shots, leaving Mercer a chance to force overtime. Kahlia Lawrence's open shot from just to the right of the key, however, bounded off the left side of the rim.

FIVE WHO MATTERED

Dyana Pierre: The Salukis' 6-foot-3 post scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. She had seven rebounds off the offensive glass.

Rishonda Napier: The point guard had a game-high 20 points for Southern Illinois, with all her field goals coming on 6-for-9 shooting from behind the arc.

Macklin: The hustling guard scored nine of her 15 points in the second half for the Salukis, including a 7-for-7 effort at the foul line.

Lawrence: The sophomore led Mercer with 16 points, the eighth time she has been in double figures this season.

Rachel Selph: The freshman post tied a career high with 14 points for the Bears.

TURNING POINT

Southern Illinois outscored Mercer 9-2 during the first five minutes of the final quarter to take the lead for good. The Salukis capitalized on seven straight missed shots and a pair of turnovers by the Bears in breaking on top from a deadlock at 44 entering the final quarter. Each of Southern Illinois' buckets in the spurt came on layups, the first off a hustling offensive rebound by Macklin, who maneuvered through the lane for the basket, was fouled and sank the free throw.

OBSERVATION

Trading runs: Mercer used a 13-2 run during the first and second quarters to take the game's biggest lead (21-11) with 8:46 left in the half. The advantage was 24-14 when Southern Illinois outscored the Bears 19-7 during the rest of the half to lead 33-31 at the break. Napier, Pierre and Macklin scored all but two of the Salukis' points in the spurt.

WORTH MENTIONING

Paint power: SIU outscored Mercer 24-8 in the paint, with 18 of the total coming after the possession was extended on an offensive rebound.

Career highs: Sydni Means had a career-high nine assists for Mercer, while teammate Amanda Thompson had a career-best 10 rebounds.

One-woman show: Napier scored all 11 of Southern Illinois' points in the first quarter. She was perfect on a trio of 3-pointers and two foul shots.

THEY SAID IT

Mercer head coach Susie Gardner: "They just out-womaned us on the offensive end. We talked about it, tried to prepare for it. We knew Pierre was a great player. but it wasn't just her. They all just went and got the basketball, and we didn't. We listed every scenario we thought we'd need, and defensive rebounding was one of them. One of the things we talked about was that it was going to be a game about possessions."

Southern Illinois head coach Cindy Stein: "We're usually a good offensive rebounding team. You have to make up for things when aren't always shooting the ball well, and we weren't (Saturday). You have to come up with extra possessions when things are going well, and we were able to do that."

Gardner on the final missed rebound chance with 6.1 seconds: "We preach free throw boxing out. We get that (rebound) and we call time out and have time to advance the ball down by just one."

Stein on the reason behind the offensive rebounding: "It's a toughness thing and an energy thing we talk about all the time. Sometimes you have to dig down more than you think you can and felt like we were able to do that."

Gardner on Lawrence's potential game-tying shot: "It was a good shot. I thought it might go in. It was about as open a 3-point shot as you're going to get in that situation, but it shouldn't have come to that point."

Stein on Lawrence's shot: "Those last 2.2 seconds seemed really, really slow."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer is at home at 7 p.m. on Monday against Jacksonville State, while Southern Illinois visits Southeast Missouri State at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Mercer women edged by Southern Illinois ."