Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball ends regular season Saturday against Missouri State
03/04/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, March 5
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
TV: WSIU TV 8
Play-by-play by Brad Palmer
Color commentary by Kelly Burke
Game Notes
GameTracker
Game Central video/audio (subscription)
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (2-26, 0-17 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Second Year (174-120 overall, 7-50 at SIU)
Missouri State Bears (20-9, 11-6 MVC)
Head Coach: Nyla Milleson, Fourth Year (248-95 overall, 63-59 at MSU)
SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
Four Bears scored in double figures to lead MSU to an 80-61 win over Evansville Thursday, its third victory in a row. Junior guard Casey Garrison led the Bears with 16 points and seven assists in the win while sophomore forward Christiana Shorter chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds. Garrison ranks second in the Valley with an average of 18.1 points per game while Shorter averages 12.5 points and leads the MVC with an average of 8.4 rebounds per game. Also for the Bears, sophomore forward Tia Mays leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally with an average of 3.3 blocks per game.
SERIES WITH MISSOURI STATE
The Salukis trail 39-25 in the all-time series, as the Bears have won the last four matchups.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The Salukis fell into an early hole and couldn't climb back out in an 82-50 loss at Missouri State to open conference play Dec. 31. Teri Oliver led the Salukis with 14 points followed by Sidney Goins with nine points while Nneka Nwani added eight points and nine rebounds and Brooke LeMar had six assists and seven rebounds.
SALUKIS CAN'T KEEP UP WITH SHOCKERS
Wichita State ran out to an 11-1 lead and never looked back in a 69-46 win over Southern Thursday night at SIU Arena. Teri Oliver scored a career-high 26 points for the Salukis in the loss while Nneka Nwani added seven points and seven rebounds.
SALUKIS HONOR SENIORS
The SIU women's basketball team will honor seniors Eboni Crayton, Nneka Nwani and Katrina Swingler during the Salukis' matchup with Missouri State.
Eboni Crayton played in 34 games for SIU after transferring from Northeast Mississippi Community College, averaging 3.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game during her tenure with the Salukis. The Guys, Tenn., native averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds through the first six games of her senior season before suffering a season-ending injury against Saint Louis. Southern's top defender, Crayton was often assigned the task of guarding the opponent's best guard. Crayton was named to the MVC Academic Honor Roll for 2009-10 and is on track to graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in sport administration.
Nneka Nwani has played 51 games for the Salukis, including 14 starts, since transferring from Moberly Area Community College. During that span, Nwani averaged 2.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. A native of Oak Park, Ill., Nwani has led the Salukis in field goal percentage the last two seasons. This season, she is shooting .510 from the field. Nwani scored a career-best 10 points twice last season and posted career-highs of 11 rebounds and four blocks this season against Indiana State. A management major, Nwani was named to the 2009-10 MVC Academic Honor Roll.
Katrina Swingler wraps up her Saluki career as the longest tenured player on this year's roster. Swingler has played 111 games with 76 starts over four seasons at SIU, averaging 7.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game during her career. This season, Swingler is averaging career highs of 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds. The Teutopolis, Ill., native scored a career high of 28 points against St. Louis and pulled down a career best 11 rebounds against Arkansas State during her sophomore season. A health care management and radiologic sciences major, Swingler was named to the MVC's Academic Honor Roll in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
OLIVER ON FIRE
Teri Oliver is closing out her sophomore season strong as the Kokomo, Ind., native has averaged 22.7 points per game over the Salukis' last three games, including a career-high 26 points Thursday against Wichita State.
A FORGETTABLE RUN
Southern's loss to Wichita State marked its 26th of the season, tying the highest single-season loss tally in MVC history. SIU also ran its losing streak to 18 games, which ties the third-longest streak in Valley history. The Salukis' 18 consecutive conference losses also rank third in MVC history. SIU has one game remaining to avoid becoming the second team in MVC history to go winless in Valley play for the season. Bradley's 1998-99 squad is the only team to finish without a conference win, and teams have finished with just one win six times, including Southern's 2004-05 squad.
