Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball opens Missouri Valley Conference play at home
01/03/2008 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2008
www.siusalukis.com
Game Facts
Dates: Thursday, January 3/Saturday, January 5
Tip Off: 7:05 p.m. CST/2:05 p.m. CST
Site: Carbondale, Ill. (SIU Arena - 9,386)
The Series: SIU leads INS 38-29, SIU trails ILS 43-44
Head Coaches: SIU: Dana Eikenberg (76-133 overall, 38-59 at SIU)
INS: Jim Wiedie (133-81 overall and at INS)
ILS: Robin Pingeton (73-59 overall and at ILS)
Radio: WUEZ - FM 95.1, Mike Reis, Julie Beck
Video Webcast: DawgWatch.tv
Audio: www.SIUSalukis.com
Livestats: www.SIUSalukis.com
Dawg Bites
The Southern Illinois Basketball team is in its 48th year of existence... Head Coach Dana Eikenberg is in her fourth season with the team and holds a 38-59 (.392) record... Last season the Salukis finished with a 21-11 record and were 16-2 in MVC play, earning their first regular season conference title in 17 years... Southern returns seven letterwinners and three starters from the 2006-07 squad and welcomes seven freshmen.
On the Schedule this Week
Wisconsin-Green Bay (Dec. 29) snapped a three-game win streak, 82-65, in SIU's final non-conference contest, before opening the Missouri Valley Conference season Jan. 3 against Indiana State. League-leading Illinois State also comes to town to visit SIU Arena Jan. 5.
Scouting Indiana State
Indiana State returns four starters from a team that went 19-11 overall and 12-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference a year ago, good for a third-place finish. This season, the Sycamores are 6-4 under ninth-year head coach Jim Wiedie (133-81 at INS). INS is led by Angela Phillips who averages 13.8 points per game, tallying 40 assists, a team-high. Laura Rudophi adds a team-high 14.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, while Kelsey Luna pitches in 11.6 points and a team-high 17 steals.
Scouting Illinois State
Illinois State returns four starters from a team that went 22-11 overall and 13-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference a year ago, good for a second-place finish. This season, the Redbirds are 10-1 under fifth-year head coach Robin Pingeton (71-59 at ILS). ILS is led by defending MVC Player of the Year, Kristi Cirone, who averages 15.4 points per game, tallying 66 assists, both team-highs. Tiffany Hudson and Maggie Krick average 13.4 and 11.7 points respectively, while Ashleen Bracey pitches in 10.2 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per contest.
Lanham Faces Old Team with New Team
Tonight's game reunites former Indiana State associate head coach Megan Lanham with Sycamores leader Jim Wiedie. Lanham is now an associate head coach at SIU
Salukis Open Valley Play
The Southern Illinois women's basketball team begins the defense of its 2006-07 Missouri Valley Conference title Jan. 3 when they open Valley play against Indiana State. The Salukis wrap up the first weekend of MVC play against Illinois State. The last time the Salukis took both games of the ILS, INS weekend was in 1998 on the road.
3-1 in December
The Salukis have started the month of December 3-0 for the first time since 1994. Southern's hopes of going undefeated in December for the first time since 1986 were dashed when they lost to UW-Green Bay in the final non-conference contest of the season Dec. 29 in SIU Arena.
Double Digits in December
Led by Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, Jasmine Gibson, along with Jayme Sweere, Erica Smith and freshman Ellen Young, these four Salukis have all racked up double-digit scoring in the Salukis' three-game win streak in December. All four players averages rank in the top-15 in the MVC, while Gibson and Smith added double digits in all-four December games to go 3-1.
Salukis Hold Cougars Under 50
The Saluki defense, giving up 69.7 points per game so far this season to rank eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference, looked much like the defensive team that was first in the league a year ago, holding a team under 50 points for the first time this season Monday, Dec. 17 against Chicago State, 70-49.
Gibson has Career Night, MVC POW
Southern Illinois women's basketball player Jasmine Gibson was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week the league announced Wednesday. Gibson, a junior from Kansas City, Mo., averaged 24.0 points and 3.5 boards, shooting 60.6 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line helping lead the Salukis to a 2-0 record this week, including a career high 31 points against Chicago State Dec. 17. The junior guard shot 12-of-21 from the field against the Cougars and nearly perfect (7-of-8) from the charity stripe in the win. She then turned around to record 18 at Tennessee Tech to help lead Southern past the Golden Eagles Dec. 21.
Sweere on Pace for 1,000
Jayme Sweere is averaging 12.5 points this season, with 125 total through ten games. The senior has recorded over 360 points in each of her first two seasons as a Saluki, bringing her career total to 858, just 142 away from the 1,000-point mark. Sweere is currently ranked 23rd all-time in scoring at SIU, also the 24th Saluki to hit 800 points in her career.
Salukis add Hart
The Southern Illinois women's basketball team signed mid-season transfer Alex Hart head coach Dana Eikenberg announced. The freshman from Thornhill, Ontario, started practice with the Salukis Thursday, Dec. 20. The 5 foot, 8 inch guard, a two-time regional all-star at Crawford Academy, will aid the Saluki backcourt depleted by injuries this season.
Five in Double-digits
For the first time since last February, the Salukis put five players in double-digit scoring against Central Arkansas Saturday, Dec. 8. Jayme Sweere and Jasmine Gibson pitched in 21 points each, while Katrina Swingler added a career-high 13 and Ellen Young and Erica Smith scored 11 apiece. The last time Southern put five players in double-digits was last season, Feb. 4 at Illinois State. Gibson and Sweere both scored in double-digits that game also.
Not so Young
Ellen Young may be a newcomer, just seven games into her first collegiate season, but she isn't playing like one. The freshman earned George Washington Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team honors after averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, shooting 46 percent (13-of-28) from the field and an outstanding 55 percent (6-of-11) from 3-point range. The freshman recorded a career-high 26 points and five rebounds Nov. 28 at Austin Peay.
Board Patrol
Saluki guard Erica Smith, considered the top-rebounding guard in The Valley a year ago continues to stay big on the boards. The junior guard averages a team-high 6.1 boards per game after ten games this season, ranking eighth in the league. Smith also averages a 12.3 points per contest, shooting a team-high 52 percent from the field, fourth in the league.
Freshmen Guards Shine in Exhibition
Tanaeya Worden and Ellen Young shined in exhibition play for the Salukis. Worden averaged 14.5 points adding five assists and five steals, while Young averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 boards per contest, while adding eight assists and five steals.
Worden Newcomer of the Week
Southern Illinois freshman Tanaeya Worden was named MVC Newcomer of the Week after her first week of regular season play. She came off the bench for the Salukis in their opener against #25 DePaul to record 17 points, two steals and a rebound, despite playing with a cast on her arm. The newcomer shot 43 percent from the field in her first regular season showing, and 44 percent from three-point range. She averaged more than a point a minute in the game.
Exhibition Offense
The Saluki offense averaged 64.0 points per games last season to rank eighth in the MVC. In Southern's two exhibition games this season, the Salukis have averaged 95.5 points per contest signaling a rise in offensive output from the 2007-08 squad.
Dawgs Dominate Exhibition Play
The Salukis held Harris-Stowe scoreless for the final 10 minutes and 29 seconds of the game as they cruised to a 104-31 win over the Hornets Nov. 1. It was the first time since Eikenberg has taken over as head coach that Southern has reached the century mark in a game, regular season or exhibition. Jasmine Gibson led the Salukis with 28 points, six rebounds. Nov. 4, SIU beat the NAIA Division I defending national champion Lambuth (Tenn.). Jayme Sweere came off the bench to score 21 points, adding five steals, three assists and four rebounds.
Salukis Ink two for 2008-09
Southern Illinois women's basketball head coach Dana Eikenberg and her staff sign two recruits from the state of Illinois for next season. Olivia Lett and Eryn Stepherson signed letters of intent to play for the Dawgs in 2008-09 Wednesday. Lett, a 5-11 guard from Pana, Ill., averaged 20.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game as a junior. She led her team to a 22-9 record last season already recording 1,774 career points, the most for boys or girls at Pana. Stepherson, a 5-10 guard from Edwardsville, Ill., averaged 8.2 points and shot 81 percent from the free throw line last season. A member of the varsity team since her freshman year of high school, she earned third-team All-SWC honors as a junior. She was also named to BlueStar Basketball's Top 250 2008 Graduates List.
Salukis picked fifth in preseason poll
The defending regular season Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball team, the Southern Illinois Salukis, were picked fifth in the 2007-08 Preseason Poll selected by coaches, media and sports information directors the league announced Tuesday at its annual basketball media day. For the second-straight year, Drake has been tabbed the No. 1 team in The Valley with 348 points in the poll and 24 first-place votes.
Eikenberg turns it around
In just three years, Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg has done her best to turn the program around, starting 3-24 her first season, (10th of 10 teams in the MVC) to 10-18 (8th of 10 teams in the league) the following season. In 2006-07 SIU garnered a Missouri Valley Conference Championship and reached postseason play for the first time since 1992. The Salukis posted the 10th-best turnaround in the nation in 2006-07 under Eikenberg and continue to work toward improvement.
Senior Sweere
Saluki guard Jayme Sweere stepped up last season to lead the Salukis in steals (56) and blocks (24), second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and assists (79). She produced a season-high 23 points twice to help pull the Salukis past Weber State on the road Dec. 2 and push Southern past Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the WNIT. In league play the junior averaged 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, tallying 44 assists and 31 steals to earn second-team honors. She was top-15 in the league in scoring (14th), steals (5th) and blocks (8th).
First Postseason in 15 Years
The Salukis made their first postseason appearance in the Women's National Invitational Tournament in 2006-07 since they went to the NCAA tournament in 1992, losing in the second round to Ole Miss. SIU finished sixth in the Women's NIT in 1983, the team's last and only trip to the tournament. After the Salukis wrapped up play with a loss at Kansas State Mar. 17, the program is 4-7 overall in postseason play dating back to the team's first trip to the postseason in 1983.
2007 MVC Champions, Win Milestones
The Salukis wrapped up the 2006-07 season 21-11 overall and 16-2 in MVC play, hitting the 20-win plateau just the ninth time in program history and the first time since 1991-92 when SIU was 23-8. The 16 conference wins are the best since Southern went a perfect 18-0 in 1986-87.
No. 1 Scoring Defense in the League
The 2006-07 team built their season around defense, holding 23 teams under 70 points to hold the no. 1 scoring defense overall (60.2) and in league play (55.9).
Eikenberg `Rawlings' MVC Coach of the Year
Dana Eikenberg is the first SIU coach chosen since Cindy Scott collected the honor in 1986, then again in 1987.
MVC Champions
SIU wrapped up the regular-season conference championship Feb. 23 with a victory over Evansville at home. The Salukis took the regular-season title and the number one seed in the tournament for the first time in the MVC era and for the first time since they won 1989-90 Gateway title. The last time Southern won a conference title out right was back in 1986-87, 18-0 in league play.
Seven-team Sweep
With a wins over Wichita State and Missouri State Mar. 1 and 3, SIU swept its sixth and seventh MVC teams last season. The previous three weekends the Salukis wrapped up league sweeps of UNI, Bradley, Drake, Creighton and Evansville. This marks the first time since 1991-92 that SIU swept seven league opponents (WSU, DU, Eastern Illinois, ILS, INS, Western Illinois, BU).
Road Warriors
SIU wrapped up conference play on the road, 8-1, the team's best showing in MVC history. The Salukis fell at Indiana State on the road Feb. 2 for their only road blemish in league play. The Salukis are 8-1 on the road this season in conference play, sweeping three road swings for the first time in MVC history. Southern swept two Gateway Conference road trips in 1989-90.
Sunday slump snapped
The Salukis snapped a 0-14 run on Sundays dating back to Feb. 16, 2003 when they picked up a victory at Redbird Arena Super Bowl Sunday, 79-66. Under head coach Dana Eikenberg, the Salukis were 0-11 on Sundays during the regular season in her first two and half seasons. With a win over UNI Sunday, Feb. 11 and another at Creighton, Feb. 18 SIU is now 3-11 on Sundays under Eikenberg.
Under 75
In all but one Saluki victory last season, the team held their opponents under 70 points. In a win on the road, Southern's defense gave up 74 points, winning by five against Northern Iowa, Jan. 13. The Salukis held four opponents to 41 points or below, picking up a big win over Missouri State Sat. Dec. 30, 63-38. It was the first time a SIU team held an opponent under 40 points since January, 1990 when they held Indiana State to 38 points under former Saluki head coach Cindy Scott. Most recently the Salukis held Wichita State to 39 points, winning by 33, 72-39.
Salukis snap league skids
• Jan. 13, Southern took a game from UNI, 79-74, the first game since 2002 and the first game in Cedar Falls since 1997.
• The Salukis snapped a 13-game losing streak to Indiana State dating back to 2000 when SIU beat INS in Terre Haute 64-62, Jan. 6. It was the first time Southern beat the Sycamores in SIU Arena in 21 tries, dating back to 1997.
• A week earlier SIU snapped losing streaks at Wichita State (Dec. 28) (won at WSU for first time since 1996) and Missouri State (Dec. 30) (19-game losing streak).
