Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University's women's basketball team faced a challenging start to their season, losing 65-31 against Auburn in Alabama. The game began as a tight defensive contest, with both teams keeping each other to single-digit scores in the first quarter. Auburn led narrowly, 8-7.

In the first quarter, Southern Illinois held Auburn to a 20.0% field-goal percentage and no successful three-point attempts. Tyranny Brown made her first three-pointer of the season during this period.

Auburn improved significantly in the second quarter, scoring 19 points with a shooting accuracy of 53.3% from the field and hitting two out of three from beyond the arc. This performance gave them a 27-15 lead at halftime.

Southern Illinois struggled offensively, shooting only 22.2% in the first half. Gift Uchenna was notable for leading with eight points and seven rebounds by halftime.

In the third quarter, Auburn's shooting efficiency decreased to 36.8%, but they still managed to outscore Southern Illinois 19-10 thanks to successful long-range shots. Kayla Cooper contributed Southern Illinois' only three-pointer of this period.

The final quarter saw Auburn sealing their victory by outscoring Southern Illinois 19-6, resulting in a decisive win at 65-31.

Overall, Southern Illinois shot just 20.0% from the field and converted only 27.3% of their three-point attempts while achieving a free throw success rate of 61.5%. Despite forcing Auburn into committing 18 turnovers, Southern Illinois had more with a total of 29 turnovers themselves.

Gift Uchenna emerged as Southern Illinois' top scorer with eight points and nine rebounds, followed by Kayla Cooper who scored six points from two successful three-point shots.

Southern Illinois is set to play their home opener against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, November 10th at Carbondale.

Fans can stay updated on Salukis news through Twitter (@SIU_WBasketball), Instagram (@SIU_WBasketball), Facebook (Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics), or via the "Salukis" Mobile App available on App Store or Google Play Store.