Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball to Face Goldstar Sunday
11/08/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Saluki fans can get an early dosage of the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team Sunday when it plays host to St. Louis Goldstar in an exhibition game at 2:05 p.m.
Picked 10th in this year's Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, the Salukis will look to build on their 6-21, 2-16 (MVC) finish last season.
Point Blank
With the loss of Holly Teague, the team's leading scorer (12.1 ppg) a year ago, the Saluki backcourt will take on a new look this season as sophomore Chris Perry (Racine, Wis.) and junior college transfer Dana Pinkston (Junction, Ill.) will battle for the point guard spot.
Pinkston will make her Saluki debut this season after completing a two-year stint at Southeastern Illinois College. An experienced point guard, Pinkston averaged 19.6 points per game this past season where she helped lead SIC to a 20-9 record. A two-time all-conference, all-region and all-tournament selection, she amassed over 1,000 points during her brief, two-year stay.
Challenging Pinkston for playing time will be sophomore returnee Perry who saw limited action last season playing in a backup role to Teague.
Perimeter Power
Four returnees form the backbone of this year's perimeter, which features a cast of six talented athletes who can either play the two or three positions. Seniors Molly McDowell (Fillmore, Ill.), Hillary Phillips (McLeansboro, Ill.) and Megan Miller (Marshalltown, Iowa), along with sophomore Danette Jones (Salem, Ill.) make up the patented foursome who will look to take charge of the wing.
Returning starters McDowell and Phillips, however, bring the most experience to the Saluki perimeter. McDowell, who vies to lead the team in scoring for the second straight year, averaged 12.6 points per game and became the school's career-leader in free throw percentage (.817) last season. Making 80 career starts, she needs just 136 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau in her career.
Phillips, on the other hand, is known for her defensive ability, which led her to a team-high 28 blocks last season.
While McDowell and Phillips are likely to resume their roles, Miller and Jones will also fight for starting duties. Miller played sparingly over 26 games last season, while Jones capped off a solid rookie year which saw her shoot a second-best 27 percent (14-of-52) from three-point range.
Rounding out the outside arsenal are junior college transfer Stephanie Brown (Olathe, Kan.) and freshman Amy Hayden (Ft. Wayne, Ind.). Brown joins the Maroon and White from Butler County Community College where she averaged 10 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies, while Hayden comes to SIU from Snider High School where she earned all-state honors.
Post Picking
The Saluki frontcourt will consist of both new faces and people battling back from injuries which carried into the off-season. With that in mind, the lineup down low remains to be seen as it sports just one healthy returnee in junior Tiffany Crutcher (Bolingbrook, Ill.).
Crutcher was one of the Salukis' most consistent post-players last season and she will be expected to make a big contribution again this year.
Complementing Crutcher on the block will be juniors Jodi Heiden (Altamont, Ill.) and Katie Berwanger (Lake Zurich, Ill.). Heiden, despite nursing a hip injury, managed to start in 23 games and finished as the Salukis' fourth-leading scorer last season. Averaging 7.8 points per game, she also knocked down 59-of-69 from the free throw line for a team-leading .855 percentage.
Meanwhile, Berwanger enters the 2002-03 campaign with two years of eligibility remaining after having received a medical hardship two years ago. Berwanger, who was expected to miss the entire year last season, battled back from a knee injury to play in 16 games where she averaged 3.6 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Closing out the frontcourt are sophomore Wendy Goodman (Evansville, Ind.) and newcomers Alissa Jaehnke (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Afton Gill (Carterville, Ill.).
