Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball Heads to Indiana State
01/26/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-Southern Illinois (2-14, 0-7) takes to the road this week for a pair of games beginning at Indiana State (10-6, 3-4) Thursday. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
SIU leads its all-time series against INS, 37-24. The Salukis, however, have lost 11 of their previous 12 matchups, including the last nine straight. The last time SIU beat the Sycamores at the Hulman Center was on Dec. 29, 1999 (64-62). Since then, the Dawgs have dropped four in a row in Terre Haute.
WELCOME BACK
First-year Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg served as an assistant coach at Indiana State from 1995-97. While at INS, she coached the perimeter players and recruited the 1997 MVC Newcomer of the Year, Amy Amstutz.
SO CLOSE
SIU nearly beat Evansville on Jan. 22. After Lecretia Akines scored a go-ahead basket to give the Dawgs a 53-52 lead with 25 seconds left, UE stole back a one-point advantage (54-53) with 11 ticks. With the length of the floor to go, SIU had one last shot, but missed, as Amy Hayden's jumper near the free throw line went wide of the rim. SIU and UE played a close game, which saw 11 lead changes and four ties. Also, the Salukis held a nine-point lead early on and led the entire first half.
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Winners in three of its last four games, INS looks to win its third straight Thursday when it hosts SIU. The Sycamores currently stand in sixth-place among conference foes with a 3-4 Valley mark.
The Sycamore defense is averaging 13 steals off its opponents' 16.3 turnovers a game. Offensively, INS is putting up 75 points a game and is shooting 43.3 percent (429-of-991) from the field.
Ashley Clark and Melanie Boeglin lead the Sycamores in scoring. Clark averages a team-leading 14.4 points a game, while Boeglin follows with 13.4. Two other starters, including Lisa Verhoff (9.9 ppg) and Stephanie Lisch (9.3 ppg) are pitching in just under 10 points per contest.
ABOUT THE SALUKIS
SIU closes out the first half of its conference season on the road at Indiana State and Illinois State this week.
The only winless team in the MVC, SIU is led by seniors Danette Jones and Daphney Desamours. Jones averages 13.8 points, while Desamours follows with 13.5.
Off the bench, freshman India Bruster has registered double figures in two of her last three games.
As a team, the Salukis are scoring just 52.8 points, while shooting under 40 percent from the field (38.3) and from behind the three-point arc (33.2).
BRUSTER CONTRIBUTES
Freshman India Bruster has performed well for the Salukis off the bench as of late. Averaging 10.3 points in her last three games, the native of Cleveland, Ohio, has scored double figures in two of those outings. After pitching in a career-high double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds against Northern Iowa (Jan. 14), Bruster has since scored five points against Bradley (Jan. 16) and 10 against Evansville (Jan. 22). In addition, she hauled down 24 rebounds, collected four steals and had four blocks in those contests. She now ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 4.3 points a game.
