Women's Basketball to host Tennessee Tech at noon Tuesday
12/18/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2006
www.siusalukis.com
Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tip Off: 12:05 p.m. CT
Site: Carbondale, Ill. - SIU Arena (9,628)
The Series: TTU leads 12-7
Head Coaches: SIU: Dana Eikenberg (54-123 overall, 16-49 at SIU)
Tennessee Tech: Amy Brown (2-7 overall and at TTU)
Rankings: NR
Radio: NA
Audio Webcast: www.siusalukis.com - Thad Jackson
Livestats: www.siusalukis.com
This Week
The Salukis return home to play their final non-conference game against Tennessee Tech, Tues. Dec. 19 following a four-game road stretch that saw the Salukis go 1-3.
Last Week
Southern Illinois fell to Big Ten foe Indiana, 73-66. The Salukis went into the locker room at the half with a one-point lead (39-38).
Salukis play one before conference play
The Salukis are coming off of a four-game road stretch spanning 18 days across the country from Utah to Indiana. SIU is glad to return home, if just for one game, a noon tip-off against Tennessee Tech Tuesday. The game marks the last of 11 non-conference contests before the Salukis begin conference play at Wichita State and Missouri State after the holiday break.
Tennessee Tech, one of three OVC teams in non-conference play
Tennessee Tech is the final of three games this season against Ohio Valley Conference schools. Two of the Salukis' three wins this season came against the other two OVC opponents, Nov. 17, against Murray State, a 77-68 victory and Nov. 29, a 54-41 win over Austin Peay. The Salukis face Tennessee Tech for the first time since the Golden Eagles beat SIU by 10 a year ago.
Previewing the Golden Eagles
TTU is currently 2-7 on the season with wins over Lambuth University and SEMO.
Preseason pick:
Tennessee Tech was picked to finish fourth of 11 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2006-07.
2005-06 finish:
The Golden Eagles return three starters, including Kendall Cavin, a preseason All-OVC First Team pick, from a team that went 23-9 overall and 16-4 in league play for a tie for first-place in the standings.
Scouting report:
Tennessee Tech returns nine letterwinners from last season's squad, including three returning starters. Kendall Cavin returns, a preseason OVC first-team pick. The senior averages 12.6 points and 4.6 boards this season to lead the team. Marissa Hensley (12.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Meagan Lyons (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Cara Reed (10.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) also average double figures for the Golden Eagles this season.
Versus the OVC
The Salukis, who meet TTU for the 20th time in program history, are 108-33 overall against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. SIU has an advantage in series records over Murray State (32-4), Eastern Kentucky (2-0), Eastern Illinois (36-6), Tennessee-Martin (7-5) and SEMO (23-6) and Austin Peay (1-0). The only losing record against against an OVC opponent is Tennessee Tech (7-12) who took a game from the Salukis on the road a year ago.
Last Time Out:
Freshman Meagan Lyons scored 24 points and Kendall Cavin pitched in 20 to lead Tennessee Tech to a 70-60 win over Southern Illinois Dec. 5, 2005 at the Eblen Center.SIU trailed the entire game and the closest it came to catching TTU was when Erin Pauk's three-pointer pulled the Dawgs to within one (19-18) at the 7:30 mark in the first half. SIU was led by Elyse Morris' season-high 15 points. Jasmine Gibson followed with 12 in 20 minutes off the bench.
Salukis learning from close games
Five times this season, the Salukis have led in the second half or come from behind to lead in the second half, but let that lead slip away in the final minutes or seconds of the game. In a close game at South Alabama, SIU led with less than ten seconds to play, but a cross court pass play was foiled by USA, winning the game, 60-59. The Salukis have also held second-half leads against Missouri, San Francisco and most recently Indiana, but could not pick up a victory.
Olsen moves from bench to starter
Freshman Dana Olsen has worked her way into the starting lineup after just eight games this season. The forward averaged 7.9 points, 3.3 boards, shooting 60 percent from the field off the bench. In two games as a starter, Olsen has averaged 6.5 points, 5.0 boards, shooting 80 percent from the field. She recorded a career-best 24 points againt Murray State and 10 rebounds at Indiana. The freshman leads the league shooting .640 from the field.
Salukis from the field
Southern Illinois is first the league in team field goal percentage at .475 on the season. This season, seven of 10 players are shooting at or above 40 percent. Senior Carlai Moore (.612) and freshman Dana Olsen (.640) are shooting above 60 percent from the field.
Stay Tuned; Moore to Come - 10th in the nation
Carlai Moore has led the Salukis in scoring in seven of eight contests this season. The Salukis' lone senior, Moore is currently second in scoring (17.8 ppg), third in field goal percentage (.619) and 13th in minutes played (30.10 mpg) in The Valley this season. The 2006 MVC Newcomer of the Year, she is currently 31st all-time in scoring at SIU in just her second season with the Salukis. ***The senior is currently ranked nationally in field goal percentage (.619/10th).
Charity stripe woes
Slowly but surely, the Salukis are improving their free throw percentage. Once under 50 percent on the season, SIU went 26 of 31 from the charity stripe in the odwalla Classic to improve their season mark and move up to ninth in the league. Now shooting .667, Southern is 94 of 141 from the line.
Moore named All-Tournament
Saluki forward Carlai Moore led SIU in scoring, named to the odwalla Classic All-Tournament Team for her efforts in the two-game tournament. She highlighted the week, recording a season-high 27 points, adding five boards against, at the time, No. 20/24 Kentucky. In the tournament. She averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 boards and 1.5 assists.
Benchwarmers
In all three of Southern Illinois' wins this season, the Saluki bench has made a significant impact, out-scoring the opponents bench, by as much as . SIU is 0-5 in games in which its opponents bench has out-scored the Saluki bench. Southern's largest margin came in a victory over Murray State. The Salukis out-scored the Racers' bench 35 to 6.
Sweere Steps Up
Saluki guard Jayme Sweere stepped up to lead the Salukis past Murray State for their first victory of the season. The junior recorded 18 points, six boards, five assists, a career-high four blocks and two steals in the second game of the season. She produced a season-high 23 points to help pull the Salukis past Weber State on the road.Sweere is averaging 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, tallying 25 assists and 13 steals in 24.9 minutes per game.
Dawg House Packed - Salukis Shatter Home Attendance Record
The season opener against Missouri Sunday, Nov. 12, drew an attendance of 3,367 the mark broke the all-time single-game record at SIU Arena. The previous record of 2,003 was set back in January of 1989 at a match up between Southern and Wichita State.
SIU in Sunday slump
During the last two seasons, the Salukis were 0-9 on Sundays during the regular season. Sunday, Nov. 10, the Salukis opened the 2006-07 regular season with a 71-60 loss to Missouri to bring their Sunday record during the last three years to 0-10. The Salukis play again on Sunday, Feb. 4, when they take on Illinois State.
Moving on Up
The 2005-06 team recorded 10 wins in a season for the first time since 1997-98. The Salukis won four non-conference games and six Missouri Valley Conference games during the 2005-06 season. The conference mark is the highest since 1997-98 under former head coach Cindy Scott. SIU also garnered a winning record at home (7-6) for the first time since 1996-97. Last season the Salukis ranked second in The Valley in both field goal percentage (.421) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.294).
Salukis make strides in The Valley
• SIU swept two league opponents (Creighton and Illinois State) for the first time in a season since 1998-99. In 1998-99 the Salukis swept Bradley and Illinois State. • Ended a 19-game losing streak against Drake. Before the Salukis' victory at home over the Bulldogs Jan. 21, 2006, SIU had not taken a game since 1996 when they swept Drake. • Finished last in the MVC four years in a row prior to finishing eighth last season. In 1999-2000, SIU finished tied for eighth with a 5-13 record.
Radio
Mississippi River Radio will broadcast selected games throughout the 2006-07 Saluki women's basketball season. Mike Reis will call the play-by-play action. These selected broadcasts can be heard locally on WCIL 1020 AM or WUEZ 95.1 FM. The radio feed can also be heard live on the athletics website at www.siusalukis.com, using QuickTime software. The games that are not being broadcast by Mississippi River Radio will be webcast live on www.siusalukis.com by Thad Jackson and/or Patrick Erickson.
Postgame Interviews in SIU Arena
Postgame interviews at SIU Arena are held in the Saluki Room located at the top of the stairwell on the south end of Lingle Hall. Coaches and players will be available 10 minutes following the conclusion of each game.
Interviews During the Week
Please arrange all interviews of players and coaches through Shalae Schulte. She can be reached by phone at (618) 453-7102 (office) or (618) 967-8997 (cell) and via e-mail at sschulte@siu.edu.
www.siusalukis.com
The official website www.siusalukis.com is the best source for up-to-date information on the Saluki women's basketball team. Rosters, box scores, cumulative statistics, pre-game notes and other materials are available on the site. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read PDF files.
Up Next...
The Salukis return to the road following the holiday break to begin the conference season at Wichita State, Dec. 28. A 7 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.
