Carbondale Reporter

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) women's basketball team suffered a 70-49 defeat against Eastern Kentucky in their home opener on Sunday. The loss leaves the Salukis with a record of 0-2 for the season.

Head coach Kelly Bond-White addressed the team's performance, saying, "I understand anxiety, I understand nerves when you're in a new position. But we talked about opportunity. You can't control the events that happened in terms of injury, in terms of health. We will not rest our head on that. All that you can control is how you respond to that and that's what I was most disappointed with today."

Freshman Isabella Palmqvist was a standout for SIU, leading her team with 10 points over 31 minutes on the court. Despite an improved field-goal percentage from 22.2% to 38.5% between the first and second quarters, SIU struggled to keep pace with Eastern Kentucky's scoring efforts.

The Colonels started strong with Liz Freihofer contributing eight points in the first quarter alone as they established an early lead by scoring 20 points compared to SIU's eight. By halftime, Eastern Kentucky had extended its lead to 37-23.

Throughout the game, Eastern Kentucky maintained its advantage by out-rebounding SIU 54-39 and capitalizing on turnovers; they forced 19 from Southern Illinois while only committing 13 themselves.

Southern Illinois' next opportunity to secure a victory comes Wednesday when they host Louisiana at Monroe at 6 p.m.

For ongoing updates about Saluki athletics, fans are encouraged to follow them on Twitter @SIU_WBasketball or Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics and download the "Salukis" Mobile App available on both major app stores.