Women's Basketball to host Tennessee Tech Sunday
12/19/2008 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2008
www.siusalukis.com
Game Facts
Date/Time: December 21, 2 p.m. CST
Site: SIU Arena (5,500) - Carbondale, Ill.
Head Coaches: Dana Eikenberg (85-151 overall, 47-77 at SIU)
Amy Brown (23-46 overall and at TTU)
Radio: 810 AM Patrick Erickson (play-by-play), Julie Beck (color)
Video Webcast: www.stretchinternet.com/siuvideo.html
Audio Webcast: www.siusalukis.com
Livestats: www.siusalukis.com
Series: SIU trails 9-12, winning the last two meetings
Last Meeting: SIU def. TTU, 87-69
Up Next: The Salukis host Northern Illinois, December 28, 2 p.m.
Dawg Bites
The Southern Illinois Basketball team is in its 49th year of existence... Head Coach Dana Eikenberg is in her fifth season with the team and holds a 47-77 (.379) record... last season the Salukis finished with a 10-20 record and were 5-13 in MVC play, ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference... Southern returns four letterwinners and two starters from the 2007-08 squad and welcomes five transfers and three freshmen.
Scouting Tennessee Tech
The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles are 3-6 on the season under third-year head coach Amy Brown with wins over Lipscomb and Jacksonville State. Brown guided the Golden Eagles to an 8-22 record last season, 7-13 in the Ohio Valley Conference. TTU is led by Blair Bowens averaging 14.2 points, 3.3 boards and 2.1 assists per game. Meagan Lyons averages 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest.
Series History
Southern Illinois will meet Tennessee Tech for the 22nd time in program history. The Salukis trail the series 9-12 over the Golden Eagles. SIU has won the last two meetings, 87-69 last season and 69-62 two seasons ago.
Salukis in National Rankings
Katrina Swingler and Jasmine Gibson rank 20th and 22nd respectively in field goal percentage nationally this season. Swing is shooting 57.4 from the field, while Jaz makes 57.1 percent of her shots. Swingler is also nationally ranked in free throw percentage (15th, 91.7 percent).
Jazz the Buzzer Beater
After a crazy final 25 seconds of play, Jasmine Gibson hit a last second shot for the victory over Central Arkansas, 69-68, Dec. 16.
Starters Spur Offense
After seven games this season, the Salukis have three players averaging double-digits, all starters. SIU's starters have contributed to 80 percent (371 of 466 points) of the Salukis' offense this season.
Field Goal Percentage Power
The Salukis are 2-0 on the season when they shoot better from the field than their opponents and 1-4 on the season when they do not. SIU owns the third-ranked field goal percentage in the Missouri Valley Conference at 42.4.
SIU in Non-Conference Play
Dana Eikenberg has guided the Salukis to a 19-33 record in non-conference play. When playing in SIU Arena, Eikenberg's teams are 11-8.
In December
SIU is 92-96 all-time in the month of December, including a 12-14 mark under Dana Eikenberg.
In November
SIU is 40-56 all-time during the month of November, including a 8-16 record under Dana Eikenberg.
Salukis in Overtime
Southern Illinois is 18-14 overall in single overtime games since 1974. The Salukis dropped their first overtime game since February, 2006, Sunday, December 14 at Chicago State, ending a two-game win-streak in overtime contests. Southern is 0-2 in double overtime games.
Salukis Win Series Opener For the second time in four seasons the Southern Illinois women's basketball team took their season opener with an 85-77 victory over Saint Louis Nov. 14. In 2005-06, the Salukis beat Weber State 55-48 in SIU Arena. SIU has won four season-openers in the last 16 seasons.
Swing Has Career Games
Sophomore forward Katrina Swingler recorded a career-best 28 points to help the Salukis push past Saint Louis, 85-77, in its season opener Nov. 14 in SIU Arena. Swingler surpassed her previous best of 13 points against Central Arkansas last December. She turned around to post her first career double-double (26 pts, 11 rbs) with a career-high in rebounds against Arkansas State, 79-76, Nov. 19.
Smith on the Boards
Saluki senior Erica Smith is one of six guards in the country to lead her team in rebounds the last two seasons and one of 15 to lead her team last season. Smith averaged 6.8 boards last season to lead the Salukis and rank fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference. As a sophomore, Smith also led the Salukis with a 5.4 RPG average
Unsuccessful on the Road
The Salukis are one game away from wrapping up a five-game road stretch, dropping their first four games to Florida and Hofstra in the Junkanoo Jam tournament and DePaul and Chicago State in Chicago. They look to redeem themselves when they wrap up the longest road stretch of the season at Central Arkansas Dec. 16.
Gibson on Pace For 1000
Saluki senior Jasmine Gibson is 183 points away from 1,000, 25th all-time at SIU. If Gibson stays healthy this season she should hit the mark and wrap up her career top-20 all-time. She recorded 272 points last season in just 19 games as a junior.
Smith Earns Post-Season Accolades
Senior guard Erica Smith recorded 54 steals and 21 blocks averaging 10.2 points and 6.8 boards for the Salukis last season to earn a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team. As a junior she also earned her second MVC Scholar-Athlete nod, with a spot on the honorable mention team.
"Pink Out" Success Friday, Feb. 8, Southern hosted the second annual "Pink Out" night in SIU Arena, the final attendance, 2,969, third all-time in program history after two games during the 2006-07 season. In the season-opener against Missouri two seasons ago, the Salukis set a new single-game record of 3,367. At the first annual "Pink Out" of SIU Arena, Southern had 3,055, second all-time.
Salukis Add Three Freshmen for 2008-09 Southern Illinois women's basketball head coach Dana Eikenberg and her staff added three freshmen from the state of Illinois this season. Olivia Lett, Eryn Stepherson and Latoya Hambrick join the team for the 2008-09 season. Lett, a 6-0 guard from Pana, Ill., finished fifth in the voting for 2008 Ms. Basketball in Illinois. She averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds as a senior. She recorded 2,439 career points, the most for boys or girls at Pana. Stepherson, a 5-9 guard from Edwardsville, Ill., averaged 7.2 points and shot 81 percent from the free throw line last season. Hambrick, a 6-0 forward from Chicago, averaged 18 points and 12 boards per game as a senior.
Five Transfers join team for 2008-09
Adrianne Griffith, Nicole Howe, Karlee Myers, Christine Presswood and Lacie Ward join the team for the 2008-09 season, all junior college transfers. Griffin was a second-team All-Mid-Florida Conference pick with three years left of eligibility. Howe was selected for the conference all-star game twice at Otero Junior College, leading her team to a 23-9 record last season. Myers was named MVP of the Golden Valley Conference, leading her team to the league title and an elite eight appearance at the JUCO National Tournament. Presswood was a two-time all-region and all-conference pick at Lincoln Land Community College and Ward was a first-team all conference and all-region as a sophomore at Coffeyville Community College.
Salukis Picked 9th in Preseason Poll
The defending regular season and tournament champion Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball team, Illinois State, was picked to repeat in 2008-09. The Salukis were picked ninth in Preseason Poll selected by coaches, media and sports information directors the league announced Tuesday, Oct. 28 at its annual basketball media day. The Salukis finished ninth a year ago.