MOLINE, Ill. – Mya Glanton’s career game helped Indiana State finally get past Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament.
Glanton scored 30 points and the ninth-seeded Sycamores survived a slew of turnovers to earn a 66-54 victory on Thursday in the opening game of Hoops in the Heartland 2024.
Indiana State (11-20) had lost to SIU in each of the past three MVC tourneys, but the Sycamores led for the final 32 minutes of this one and will play top-seeded Drake in the quarterfinals at noon on Friday after winning for just the second time in nine games in Moline,
Glanton, whose previous best had been 26 points, scored 19 first-half points as the Sycamores opened a 33-23 lead and finished 12-for-16 from the field while playing the entire fourth quarter with four fouls.
Point guard Ella Sawyer made all 10 of her free throws and finished with 12 points for Indiana State and Kiley Bess added 10 to go with four assists.
Quierra Love, the Salukis’ super-quick 5-foot-4 guard, led SIU (11-20) with 15 points while adding four assists and five steals. Paige Clubb tied her season high with four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points and Jaidynn Mason scored 11, all in the third quarter.
The Sycamores kept the Salukis’ leading scorer, Laniah Randle, in check from the outset. Randle, second in the league with an 18.7 average, scored only six on 2-for-8 shooting before fouling out with 5:52 left and her team down just 54-50.
Indiana State started to take control of the game at that point, shutting down the Salukis on the offensive end and getting the ball to Glanton. She got two baskets inside and sank three free throws to lead a 12-2 run that lifted ISU into a 66-52 lead with less than a minute to play.
SIU got within four on Clubb’s 3 with 6:55 left. But the Salukis managed only two baskets the rest of the way and Indiana State capitalized.
Southern Illinois forced more turnovers than any team in the Valley this season and harassed the Sycamores into 27. But the Salukis coughed it up 23 times themselves and Indiana State ended up with a 24-19 edge in points off turnovers.
Indiana State never trailed after Bella Finnegan and Bess buried back-to-back treys for a 22-19 lead 4:36 left in the second quarter. The Sycamores led by as many as 12 early in the third quarter and did what they needed to stay ahead after Glanton went to the bench with her fourth foul at the 5:53 mark.
SIU trailed just 48-45 after Clubb buried a deep 3 at the third quarter buzzer. But Glanton hit a jumper and scored inside at the start of the fourth quarter to return the momentum to the Sycamores.