Southeast cruises to win against Salukis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team needed about 36 minutes to put a comforable distance between itself and winless Southern Illinois on Wednesday.

Southeast broke away from a four-point lead midway through the second half en route to a 77-56 nonconference win.

Southeast improved to 4-1, while Southern Illinois fell to 0-5.

The Salukis, who trailed 32-22 at the half, made a serious run at an upset bid with a pair of treys in less than a minute in the second half. After 3-pointers by Amy Hayden and Danette Jones, the Salukis were within 44-40 with 13:28 to play.

That was the beginning of the end.

Southeast stifled the threat with a 22-7 run. Tatiana Conceicao, Southeast's 6-2 junior, converted a four-point play that put SEMO on top 67-47 with 3:22 remaining. Conceicao scored eight points in the run and finished with a game-high 27 points. Chandra Brown added five points in the decisive run and Natalie Purcell chipped in four.

Southeast was dominant at times in the first half in building a 23-7 lead. Southern Illinois committed 13 turnovers in the first half while struggling against SEMO's pressure defense.

"They had great pressure," SIU coach Dana Eikenberg said. "We played at their speed for a while. We never got into a flow."

Southern Illinois finished with 13 turnovers.

Southeast had two other players finish in double figures -- Purcell finished with 13 and Brown with 10.

Those two also were Southeast's leading rebounders. Brown grabbed nine and Purcell had seven.

Les Winkeler of The Southern contributed to this report.