CARBONDALE, Ill. ? Southern Illinois enjoyed a solid shooting night against Indiana State as the Salukis downed the Sycamores by a count of 95-76 in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams in front of 570 fans at SIU Arena on Thursday evening.

ISU falls to 6-5, 0-1 MVC while Southern Illinois improved to 5-6, 1-0 MVC.

The Salukis connected on 56.5% of their shots, including 8 of their first 10 attempts in the second half to break open a six-point game at the half. Southern Illinois led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Kelsey Luna and Laura Rudolphi owned the final five minutes of the half as the Sycamores cut the lead down to just six points, 52-46, at the break.

Luna and Rudolphi paced the team with 18 points each in the game. Rudolphi connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field, and she added eight rebounds. Luna hit a pair of first half 3-pointers en route to adding her 18 points.

Indiana State countered with a 46.2% shooting performance of their own, including a mark of 42.9% from behind the 3-point line. ISU got a pair of triples from Angela Phillips, Luna and Leah Phillips.

Southern Illinois was led by Ellen Young, who posted 25 points by hitting five 3-pointers.

The Indiana State Sycamores return to action on Saturday, January 5 when they travel to Evansville for its second consecutive road game to open Valley play. Tip-off is slated for 3:05 p.m. (EST).