Women's Basketball Plays at Southern Mississippi Saturday
12/10/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.- Southern Illinois (1-5) looks to win its second straight game when it travels to Southern Mississippi (2-4) Saturday. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
SALUKIS FINISH UP NON-CONFERENCE PLAY ON THE ROAD
Saturday's matchup against the Golden Eagles marks the first of three road games SIU will play to close out its non-conference season. Following their visit to Hattiesburg, the Salukis will head to the Sunshine State for a pair of games at Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 18) and Stetson (Dec. 21).
STREAK ENDS
SIU, who began its 2004-05 season with five straight losses, ended a 14-game losing streak which dated back to Jan. 31, 2004. The Dawgs beat Saint Louis, 69-53, on Dec. 7, to halt the stretch.
SERIES HISTORY
SIU and Southern Mississippi face each other for the second time after their overall series began in 2004. The Golden Eagles defeated the Salukis, 59-55, in the inaugural meeting which took place in Carbondale on Dec. 16, 2003.
A LOOK BACK
Southern Mississippi's win over SIU a year ago marked its eighth straight win at the time, as the Golden Eagles began the 2003-04 season at 8-0. Both the Salukis and Golden Eagles played a close game, which saw each team end up with at least three players score double figures. USM was led by Tierra Lassiter, who scored 16 points, while Deondra Carter and Lana Lewis followed with 12. For SIU, Tiffany Crutcher led all scorers with 12 points, while Danette Jones followed with 11 and Amy Hayden chipped in 10.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Southern Mississippi is 2-4 on the year, and has lost three straight games. Most recently, the Golden Eagles suffered a 63-46 loss at Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 7. USM is 1-2 at home this season.
Joyce Lee-McNelis is in her first year as head coach at USM. She was named the Golden Eagles' fourth head women's basketball coach on May 24, 2004. McNelis, one of USM's all-time basketball greats, was the fifth Lady Eagle to score more than 1,000 points in a career. She holds a career record of 231-160 in a little over 13 years.
Offensively, USM is averaging just 52.7 points per game, and sports one player averaging double figures. Shannon Stueber tops the Golden Eagles with 14.5 points a game.
The Golden Eagles have struggled to protect the basketball this season. As a result, USM is averaging nearly 30 (29.8) turnovers a game. Turning the ball over 179 times in six outings this season, the Golden Eagles recently committed a school record 48 turnovers at UL-Monroe.
IMPROVING DAWGS
SIU turned the ball over a season-low 15 times, including seven in the second half against Saint Louis on Dec. 7.
NICE CONTRIBUTION
Of SIU's eight players, all but one scored at least five points in a balanced effort against Saint Louis. Amy Hayden led the charge with 18 points, while Danette Jones had 15 and Daphney Desamours added 13. Wendy Goodman (6), Elyse Morris (5), Lecretia Akines (7) and India Bruster (5) also contributed.
DYNAMIC DUO
Seniors Danette Jones (102) and Desamours (79) have combined for 181 of SIU's 326 points this season, which accounts for 56 percent of the team's overall point production. Jones tops all scorers with 17 points per game and Desamours follows with 13.2. Not to mention, Jones has scored double figures in five of six games, while Desamours pitched in double figures in every one of her outings.
JONES TOPS THE NATION
Through games of Dec. 6, 2004, senior Danette Jones topped the nation in three-point field goals made per game, according to the NCAA's weekly statistics report. In her first five games of the season, Jones drained 17 three-pointers for a 3.4 average, which put her ahead of five players tied with 3.3.
JONES CHASES
Danette Jones has knocked down 18-of-49 three-pointers in six games this season. As the Salukis' leading scorer with an average of 17 points per game, she opened the year with 14 of those treys in her first four outings. Included in her 2004-05 total are a season-high six three-pointers against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 28. That single game mark fell just one make shy of tying SIU's all-time record for most three-pointers in game. Additionally, Jones ranks fifth on the school's all-time three-point list, where she has knocked down 101 threes in 300 attempts. Jones needs just three makes from behind the arc to move into a tie for third. Karrie Redeker is SIU's career leader with 161 threes from 1988-92.
HAYDEN SCORES CAREER-HIGH
Junior Amy Hayden scored 28 points in her last two games, including a career-high 18 against Saint Louis on Dec. 7. A native of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Hayden shot 6-of-11 from the field, 1-of-2 from three-point range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Her 18-point effort surpassed a previous career-high of 14, which came against Southwest Missouri State on Jan. 24, 2004.
BRUSTER HAULS DOWN SEASON-HIGH
Freshman post player India Bruster grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds to lead the Salukis in that category against Saint Louis (Dec. 7). Bruster, who hails from Cleveland, Ohio, also had a game-high four blocks in 18 minutes of action.