Women's Basketball Hosts St. Louis Goldstar Sunday
11/05/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Plagued by injury, the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team enters Sunday's exhibition matchup against St. Louis Goldstar with only six players. Tip off is set for 2:05 p.m., at SIU Arena.
With its roster already at nine eligible players for the 2004-05 season, SIU saw its numbers drop even more when freshman Rachel Boldt, junior Amy Hayden and senior Lecretia Akines got hurt. Boldt suffered a stress fracture, Hayden strained a tendon in her shin and Akines dislocated her left thumb.
Despite all the injuries, first-year head coach Dana Eikenberg says you can expect her team to play hard.
"We'll have six players who are going to work very hard and focus on things like our defensive transition and team defense," said Eikenberg. "On the offensive end, we're going to have more of a tempo-controlled game and work at executing the little things that will make a difference down the stretch."
Seniors Daphney Desamours, Danette Jones and Wendy Goodman, along with sophomore Bernettra Grayer, redshirt freshman Elyse Morris and true freshman India Bruster will take the floor for the Dawgs Sunday.
Both Desamours and Jones are SIU's two returning starters from a year ago, while Goodman and Grayer contributed quality minutes off the bench. Morris, on the other hand, was granted a medical redshirt in 2003-04 after a stress fracture cut her season short. Bruster joins the Salukis from Cleveland Central Catholic High School in Cleveland, Ohio.
Last season, Desamours scored four points in the last 58 seconds of the game to lift SIU to a 64-62 come-from-behind win over Goldstar on Nov. 9, 2003.
At one time, the Salukis led by 11 points, before Goldstar went on a 22-2 run to regain as much as an 11-point advantage. Trailing 62-59 with 1:18 left to play, Desamours drained a clutch, three-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game and help seal the dramatic finish.
St. Louis Goldstar, who plays its first exhibition game against SIU, has two former players from the Missouri Valley Conference, including guards Yen Quach (Southwest Missouri State) and Dana Pinkston (SIU). Pinkston was the Salukis' leading scorer with 11.4 points per game a year ago.
Live stats for Sunday's game between SIU and St. Louis Goldstar can be accessed at www.SIUSalukis.com.