Women's Basketball hosts Indiana Friday
12/01/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2005
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By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Date: Friday, Dec. 2, 2005
Tip Off: 7:05 p.m., CST
Site: SIU Arena (10,014)
The Series: IU leads, 10-3
Head Coaches: SIU: Dana Eikenberg (6-25/2nd Year)
IU: Sharon Versyp (2-3/1st Year)
Rankings: Neither team is ranked
Audio Webcast: www.siusalukis.com
Livestats: www.siusalukis.com
Salukis and Hoosiers Meet for First Time in 16 Years
The Salukis and Hoosiers meet for the first time since 1989 Friday at SIU Arena. IU leads the all-time series, 10-3, and has won its last two games against SIU (1988, 1989). The Dawgs travel to Bloomington, Ind., to play the Hoosiers next year.
Dawgs Winless in Last Nine Matchups against Big Ten Opponents
SIU has dropped nine-straight games to Big Ten Conference opponents. The last time SIU won a game against a Big Ten school was in 1993-94 when the Dawgs beat Illinois, 69-65.
Against the Big Ten
SIU is 35-44 (.443) all-time against the Big Ten Conference. The Salukis hold a series-best 21 wins against in-state rival Illinois (21-11). SIU is also 3-10 against IU, 1-0 against Michigan, 3-2 against Michigan State, 0-2 against Minnesota, 1-9 against Northwestern, 0-2 against Ohio State, 4-4 against Purdue, 2-3 against Wisconsin and 0-1 against Iowa. Penn State remains as the lone Big Ten foe the Salukis have never faced.
Salukis Go After Third Win at Home
With a win against IU Friday, SIU will match its total number of home victories in the last two years. The Salukis have gone a combined 3-20 at home during the 2003-04 (1-10) and 2004-05 (2-10) seasons. SIU, who beat Weber State (11/19) and South Alabama (Nov. 25) at home this year, has not posted a winning record on its homecourt since 1996-97 (8-4).
Big Ten Ties
SIU second-year head coach Dana Eikenberg has ties to the Big Ten Conference as a player and coach. Eikenberg was a four-year starting point guard (1988-92) at Penn State under nationally respected head coach Rene Portland. During her career with the Nittany Lions, Eikenberg played on three consecutive NCAA Tournament teams (1990, 1991 and 1992), while helping the program achieve its first number one national ranking in 1991. As a coach, she served as a graduate assistant at Illinois from 1993-95 and a full-time assistant at Iowa from 1997-2000.
Eikenberg vs. the Big Ten
Dana Eikenberg is 0-4 against Big Ten opponents in a little over five years as a head coach. At UMKC, Eikenberg's teams lost to Minnesota in both 2002-03 and 2003-04. In her debut at SIU a year ago, the Salukis fell to Iowa and Wisconsin.
About the Hoosiers
Preseason Pick: IU was picked to finish eighth in this year's Big Ten Conference Preseason Poll. The Hoosiers finished one spot lower in the conference standings a year ago, with an overall 10-18, 3-13 mark. Scouting Report: IU is off to a 2-3 start in Sharon Versyp's first year at the Hoosier helm. IU opened the season with four-straight home games and takes to the road for only the second time this week. The Hoosiers dropped three of their first four games of the 2005-06 season, but two of those losses came against top-25 opponents -- No. 5 Baylor (74-62) and No. 12 Notre Dame (74-61). Senior Cyndi Valentin, one of three starters back from a year ago, currently leads IU with 16 points per game. Valentin, who was named honorable mention all-Big Ten a year ago, also topped her team in assists (14) as the Hoosiers' point guard. As a team, IU ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring offense with 63.0 points a game. Last Time Out: IU defeated Belmont, 68-51, in its first road game off the season earlier this week. Cyndi Valentin's 18 points led four Hoosiers in double figures, as IU shot 55.6 percent in the first half en route to a 39-26 halftime lead. Belmont shot only 25.8 percent (16-of-62) from the field and made just eight threes in 36 attempts.
Sweere Named MVC Newcomer-of-the-Week
Jayme Sweere was named this week's MVC Newcomer-of-the-Week, the league announced Monday. Sweere is the first Saluki to be tabbed Newcomer-of-the-Week and first to win one of the MVC's weekly awards since Molly McDowell was named Player-of-the-Week in 2000. A native of Springfield, Mo., Sweere pitched in 12 points in the first half and 16 in the second en route to a career-high 28 points at Murray State on Nov. 22. Three days later, she scored 13 against South Alabama. On the week, she made 17-of-34 (.500) field goals and 7-of-9 free throws. She also pulled down 11 rebounds, dished out eight assists and had 10 steals.
Salukis Suffer First Loss
SIU fell victim to a 26-4 run early in the second half in a 74-63 loss at Mississippi River rival SE Missouri State Tuesday. After shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the first half for the third game in a row, the Salukis cooled off to make only 37.1 percent (13-of-35) of their shots in the second half. SIU went scoreless for nearly four minutes and made just 5-of-23 field goals in the first 12:09 of the second half.
Now That's a Good Point
Sophomore point guard Erin Pauk is playing the most of any Saluki this season. A native of St. Charles, Mo., Pauk averages 35 minutes per game as the Dawgs' point guard. As SIU's third-leading scorer (14.0 ppg), she has posted double figures in all four games and recently pitched in a career-high 19 against SE Missouri State (11/29). Pauk ranks among MVC leaders in scoring (t11th, 14.0 ppg), free throw percentage (7th, .882), three-point field goals made (6th, 2.3), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, .529), assists (t9th, 2.8) and minutes played (t7th, 35.0).
Up Next
SIU heads to preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Tennessee Tech on Monday, Dec. 5. Tip off is at 7 p.m., CST.
