Women's Basketball Heads to Tennessee Tech
12/02/2003 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2003
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (0-4) continues its lengthy six-game road stretch Wednesday when it plays at Tennessee Tech (0-3). Tip off is set for 7 p.m., at the Eblen Center.
SIU spent its Thanksgiving at the Long Island University Invitational last week. The Salukis went 0-2 during their four-day visit to New York, and as a result, finished last among the four-team field. SIU fell to host LIU, 64-48, on Nov. 28, and Alabama-Birmingham, 85-72, in the consolation game on Nov. 29.
Junior guard Danette Jones leads all Saluki scorers with 11.0 points after four games this season. She is followed by Katie Berwanger who has been a terror on the boards. Averaging 10.5 rebounds to go along with 9.3 points per game, Berwanger pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds against LIU. As a result of her remarkable effort, she became the sixth Saluki all-time to register 20 rebounds in a game.
Like SIU, Tennessee Tech will also be searching for its first win of the season. The Golden Eaglettes are coming off two consecutive home losses, including a recent 83-77 loss to Evansville on Nov. 30. TTU is led by sophomore forward Emily Christian who scored 16 points in her only start of the season. Christian is followed by junior guard Tynisha Alexander. Alexander averages 13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
SIU looks to win its second straight game over TTU, as the Salukis defeated the Golden Eaglettes, 72-62, last year in Carbondale.
Back to the OVC
Tennessee Tech marks the second opponent from the Ohio Valley Conference that SIU faces this season. SIU has squared off against seven of the 11 teams in the OVC throughout its women's basketball history. Holding an all-time record of 107-28 against OVC schools, the Salukis are 36-6 against Eastern Illinois, 2-0 against Eastern Kentucky, 30-4 against Murray State, 23-4 against SE Missouri, 7-5 against Tennessee-Martin, 2-0 against Tennessee State and 7-9 against Tennessee Tech. Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and Samford are the only four OVC foes SIU has never played.
Tough Place to Play
For SIU, the Eblen Center has not been an easy place to play at. In fact, the Salukis are just 2-6 in eight meetings on the Golden Eaglettes' homecourt. Losing its last five games in Cookeville, SIU hasn't defeated TTU at the Eblen Center since Nov. 27, 1991 (73-68). During that 1991-92 season, the Salukis went 23-8 en route to their last NCAA Tournament appearance to date.
Losing Streak Hits Eight
Since the end of the 2002-03 season, SIU has lost eight straight games, including its first four of this year. Dating back to Feb. 27 when the Salukis fell to Bradley, SIU has since gone 0-8. Prior to this season, the Salukis lost 11 consecutive games (Dec. 21-Feb. 2) in 2002-03 and a school record 15 straight contests (Dec. 19-Feb. 15) in 2001-02.
Salukis Start at 0-4 for First Time Since 1988-89
SIU is 0-4 in its first four games for the first time in 14 years. The last time SIU began a season at 0-4 was in 1988-89 under former head coach Cindy Scott. That year, the Dawgs opened with losses to Murray State (64-68), Purdue (60-69), Western Kentucky (59-80) and Indiana (44-58) before finishing at 19-10 overall.
Crutcher Goes Off
SIU jumped out to its best start of the season against Alabama-Birmingham (11/29) thanks largely in part to Tiffany Crutcher. The senior from Bolingbrook, Ill., caught fire for six points in the first 56 seconds of the game. Crutcher would score another basket shortly after her spree to cap off a smoking 11-0 run which stands as the Salukis' largest lead over an opponent this season. For the game, Crutcher scored 16 points on 8-of-10 field goals to mark her first double-digit outing of the year.
Rebounding Machine
Senior Katie Berwanger grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds against Long Island (11/28) last week. Pulling down nine boards on the offensive glass and 11 on the defensive end, she also scored 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. Berwanger became the sixth Saluki all-time to register 20 rebounds in a game, as her new total surpassed her previous career-high of 13 which was done two times with the last being against Creighton (2/16/03). Berwanger leads the Dawgs with a 10.5 rebounds per game average this season.
Salukis Shoot Season Best
SIU shot a season-best 53 percent (29-of-55) from the field against Alabama-Birmingham (11/29). The Salukis hit 14-of-26 (.538) field goals in the first half to 15-of-29 (.517) in the second. The last time the Dawgs shot 50 percent or better from the field was when they went 27-of-54 (.500) against Illinois State (2/22/03). That game also marked the last time SIU posted a win.
Costly Categories
By comparison, turnovers, fouls and free throws have hurt the Salukis the most this season. Averaging 23 turnovers a game, SIU has committed a total of 92 to its opponents' 26. At the free throw line, the Dawgs are just 35-of-61 (.574) to their opponents' 66-of-102 (.647). As for fouls, SIU has been whistled for 92, while its foes have committed just 56.
First Half Frustration
After four games this season, SIU is being outscored by its opponents, 142-107, in the first half. Also, in three of those four contests, the Salukis have trailed their opponent by at least eight points at intermission -- 24-37 at SE Missouri State (11/21), 19-27 at Long Island (11/28) and 33-43 vs. Alabama-Birmingham (11/29).