Women's Basketball takes on Austin Peay
11/27/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2010
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, Nov. 28
Time: 2:05 p.m. CST
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Site: SIU Arena (8,500)
Radio: 810 WDDD-AM
Play-by-play by Patrick Erickson
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Game Notes
Live Stats (free)
Game Central video (subscription)
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (0-4)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Second Year (172-98 overall, 5-28 at SIU)
Austin Peay Lady Govs (1-5)
Head Coach: Carrie Daniels (49-82 overall and at APSU)
SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY
The Lady Govs (1-5) enter Sunday's matchup on a two-game losing streak, most recently falling 72-60 at SIU-Edwardsville Friday night at Edwardsville, Ill. Whitney Hanley has led Austin Peay early in the season with averages of 14.2 points and 5.7 rebounds while Dalila Thomas averages 10.3 points and Jasmine Rayner averages 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. The Lady Govs are in their fifth year under head coach Carrie Daniels.
SERIES WITH AUTIN PEAY
The all-time series is tied 1-1. The Lady Govs won the last matchup during the 2007-08 season while the Salukis won the previous season in 2006-07.
SALUKIS DROP FIRST ROAD GAME
SIU staged a late-game comeback in its first road game at Western Michigan, but ran short of time in a 56-52 loss. The Salukis rallied from an 8-point deficit with less than four minutes to play, cutting the Broncos lead to 33-32 with 30 seconds remaining. WMU hit three of four free throws down the stretch and the Salukis didn't get any shots off in the final half-minute, falling to 0-4 on the season. Teri Oliver and CiCi Shannon both had 15 points for the Salukis while Shannon also contributed eight rebounds and six blocks.
SHANNON'S BLOCK PARTY
SIU freshman center CiCi Shannon's six blocks against Western Michigan Wednesday tied the second-highest single-game block total in school history. Her five blocks Nov. 19 against Northern Illinois tied the fourth-highest mark. Krsitine Abramowski set the school record with seven blocks against Indiana State on Dec. 29, 1999.
NOT HALF BAD
SIU averages a 7.7 point loss through its first three games, but the Salukis have only been out-scored by an average of one point per game after halftime. In its last three games combined, SIU has out-scored its opponents 79-75 in the second half.
WE'RE HOME EARLY
Southern is getting plenty of time to get comfortable competing in the newly renovated SIU arena as the Salukis start the season with five of their first six at home culminating with its current two-game homestand against Austin Peay and Saint Louis. Starting Dec. 7 at Vanderbilt, the Salukis will play six of their next seven on the road.
DAWGS GET DEFENSIVE
Early in the season, the Salukis have been able to hang their hats on a tough defense that ranks first in the Missouri Valley Conference through Saturday's games. The Salukis are holding opponents to an average of 55.2 points per game and teams are shooting a paltry 33.8 percent against the SIU defense.
SALUKIS ON THE BOARDS
SIU ranks third in the MVC in rebounding margin with a plus-two average against the opposition. The Salukis average of 14.5 offensive rebounds per game ranks second in the conference. Junior forward Charnise Mitchell is tied for ninth in the Valley with an average of 7.3 rebounds per game while CiCi Shannon ranks third with an average of 3.0 offensive rebounds per game.
DAWG BITES
The Southern Illinois Basketball team is in its 52nd year of existence. Head Coach Missy Tiber is in her second season with the team and holds a 172-98 (.637) career record in her 10th season as a head coach. Last season the Salukis finished with a 5-24 record and were 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Southern returns five letterwinners and two starters from the 2009-10 squad and welcomes three transfers and eight freshmen.
A TASTE OF TENNESSEE
The Saluki Roster contains four players from the state of Tennessee (Eboni Crayton, Sidney Goins, Raquel Miller and Renee Reed), which is the highest out-of-state contingent on the team. SIU will face four teams from Tennessee (UT Martin, Tennessee State, Austin Peay and Vanderbilt) during the 2010-11 season. SIU coach Missy Tiber coached four years at Tusculum College in Morristown, Tenn. before coming to SIU and Saluki assistant coach Michelle Smith is a native of Chattanooga, Tenn.
OVC ALL OVER AGAIN
Austin Peay is one of four teams from the Ohio Valley Conference the Salukis will face during the 2010-11 season. SIU opened the season with losses to OVC members UT Martin and Tennessee State, and will face fellow OVC school Murray State Dec. 18 in Murray, Ky. The Salukis are 116-37 all-time against the current roster of OVC schools. transfers and eight freshmen.