Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball opens MVC Tournament against Indiana State
03/09/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
GAME INFORMATION
State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
Opening Round
Date: Thursday, March 10
Time: 8:37 p.m. CST
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Site: The Family Arena
Radio: 810 WDDD-AM
Play-by-play by Patrick Erickson
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Game Notes
Game Central audio (subscription)
MVC Championship Central (links to live video and live stats)
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (2-27, 0-18 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Second Year (174-121 overall, 7-51 at SIU)
Indiana State Sycamores (14-15, 8-10 MVC)
Head Coach: Teri Moren, First Year (144-88 overall and 14-15 at ISU)
OLIVER HONORABLE MENTION ALL-MVC
The Missouri Valley Conference announced Wednesday that Saluki sophomore Teri Oliver has been named Honorable Mention All-MVC. Oliver came on strong through the end of the season to earn Valley accolades for the second consecutive year as she was named to the All-MVC Freshman Team last season. Oliver, who didn't eclipse 20 points in the first 25 games of the season, did so three times in the last four games. She averaged 22.8 points per game during that span, including a career-high 26-point outing against Wichita State last Thursday. The Kokomo, Ind., native also set a new school record with 18 3-point attempts Saturday against Missouri State. Oliver finished fifth in the MVC with an average of 14.7 points per game in Valley play and led the conference with 3.0 made threes per game in MVC play.
Click here for full release from the MVC
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores ended the regular season on a two-game losing streak to drop into the seventh seed in the MVC Tournament. ISU is led by Second-Team All-MVC selection Shannon Thomas who averages 13.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Thomas ranks seventh in the MVC in scoring, second in both rebounding and field goal percentage and third in blocks. Also for the Sycamores, Taylor Whitley averages 11.1 points per game and Brittany Schoen averages 10.5 points per game.
SERIES WITH INDIANA STATE
SIU leads the all-time series between the two teams 40-35.
DURING THE REGULAR SEASON
The Salukis dropped a close contest to the Sycamores 48-42 Jan. 29 in Carbondale before falling by a hefty 93-57 margin Feb. 25 in Terre Haute, Ind. SIU saw its best shot at its first MVC win slip away in the final minutes at SIU Arena. The Salukis had their biggest halftime lead of the season at 26-14, but shot just 14.7 percent in the second half. Southern took a 39-38 lead with under five minutes to play, but ISU responded with a 7-0 run. The Salukis had a few open looks during the run, but couldn't get anything to fall. Teri Oliver led SIU with 17 points while Nneka Nwani pulled down 11 rebounds in the loss. Anna Munn and Kelsey Cooley both had 13 to lead the Sycamores while Shannon Thomas had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Southern was whistled for 33 fouls, sending Indiana State to the line 52 times at the Hulman Center. ISU converted on 38 of its free throws to cruise to the easy win. Southern had a season-high 69 field goal attempts, which was 20 more than ISU, but the Salukis shot 42 fewer charity tosses. The Sycamores also out-rebounded SIU 48-31. Oliver led the Salukis with 25 points while Katrina Swingler added nine points and 10 rebounds and Brooke LeMar posted a career-best 10 assists. Thomas led four Sycamores in double figures with 26 points.
TOURNAMENT TALK
The Salukis open the 2011 MVC Tournament with the same opponent as last season. Southern's 2009-10 campaign ended in a 73-57 loss to Indiana State in St. Charles. Southern has had a hard run of luck in the MVC Tournament in recent years. Since its expansion to 10 teams in 2005-07, the Salukis are 1-5 in the tournament with four first-round exits. The Salukis have only secured one MVC Tournament win in the last 13 seasons, although SIU missed the eight-team cut five straight seasons from 2000 through 2005.
SALUKI SCORING ON THE RISE
The Salukis have seen an upswing in scoring through its last five games after struggling to put points on the board through the bulk of MVC play. Southern averaged 46.5 points through its first 13 games but improved to an average 56.6 points per game in its final five games. Southern eclipsed 60 points twice in the final three weeks of the season, something the team hadn't previously accomplished since December.
SALUKIS OVERLY CHARITABLE
Southern averages nearly a 24-point loss in MVC play, and a good portion of that disparity comes at the free throw line. Southern averages 10.2 fewer free throws made per game than its opponents in Valley play. The Salukis average 21.4 fouls per game send their opponent to the line an average of 27.4 times per game. The last time Southern faced Indiana State, SIU was whistled for 33 fouls and sent the Sycamores to the line 52 times, the most free throws any team has attempted against the Salukis in school history.
A FORGETTABLE RUN
Southern's loss to Missouri State to end the regular season assured the Salukis a few inglorious milestones. The loss concluded a forgettable 2010-11 regular season in which the Salukis became just the second team in MVC history to go winless in Valley play. It also marked SIU's 27th loss of the season, which the most in MVC history. Lastly, the Salukis extended their losing streak to 19 games, which ties for the second-longest losing streak in Valley history. Southern's 19 consecutive conference losses rank third in MVC history.
