Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball hosts Murray State Thursday
01/25/2012 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2012
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-- The Southern Illinois women's basketball team steps out of conference play Thursday for a matchup with regional rival Murray State.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, Jan. 26
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Site: SIU Arena (8,331)
Radio: 810 WDDD-AM
Play-by-play by Patrick Erickson
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Game Notes
Game Tracker
Game Central Audio/Video (pay)
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (4-14, 1-7 Missouri Valley)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Third Year (178-136 overall, 11-66 at SIU)
Murray State Racers (8-11, 4-2 Ohio Valley)
Head Coach: Rob Cross, Fourth Year (53-58 overall and at MSU)
SCOUTING MURRAY STATE
Murray State enters the matchup on a four-game winning streak after starting the season 4-11. The Racers defeated Longwood 86-77 Monday as MSU's Erica Burgess tallied 31 points and Mariah Robinson scored 21. Burgess leads MSU with a season average of 16.1 points per game while Robinson averages 15.8 per game and Kayla Lowe is third on the team at 10.1 points per game. The Racers get rebounds from throughout the lineup as five players average between four and five per game. Burgess leads the team with an average of 3.9 assists per game. MSU leads the Ohio Valley Conference with an average of 11.2 steals per game and a turnover martin of +4.53. The Racers force an average of 20.4 turnovers per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Southern leads its all-time series against Murray State 34-4, having won 18 straight in the series. The last Racer win came in SIU's season opener of the 1988-89 season. The last two seasons, however, the matchup has been decided by close margins. Teri Oliver hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to lift SIU to a 62-61 win last season in Murray, Ky., and the Salukis needed overtime to best the Racers in Carbondale during the 2009-10 season.
FROM MO-VALLEY TO O-VALLEY
Murray State is the fifth and final Ohio Valley Conference school the Salukis will face this season. The Salukis beat OVC member Tennessee State earlier this season in addition to falling to Austin Peay, SIU Edwardsville and UT Martin. Southern is 119-39 all-time against the current roster of OVC schools.
WICHITA STATE OUTLASTS SALUKIS
SIU cut a 14-point deficit to one with seven minutes remaining, but Wichita State hit 11 of 12 free throws in the final 2:30 to down the Salukis 78-68 Saturday at SIU Arena. Teri Oliver led SIU with 23 points while Cartaesha Macklin posted her first career double-double with 22 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. The game marked the second time this season Oliver and Macklin have both gone over 20 points in the same game along with Southern's win over IUPUI.
SIU SWEEPS WEEKLY MVC HONORS
Teri Oliver was named Player of the Week and Cartaesha Macklin was named Newcomer of the Week by the MVC Monday. Oliver's honor marks the first MVC Player of the Week nod for SIU since Jasmine Gibson earned the recognition Dec. 26, 2007. Macklin's honor marks SIU's second Newcomer of the Week award of the season as Alexus Patterson earned the honor January 12. This marked the first time SIU has swept the MVC's weekly awards since Jan. 15, 2006 when Jayme Sweere earned Player of the Week and Dana Olsen was named Newcomer of the Week.
OLIVER'S MILESTONE NIGHT
Junior guard Teri Oliver had a night to remember in SIU's 78-72 win over Missouri State Thursday. Oliver poured in 28 points for the game, along the way becoming the 21st player in SIU history to go over 1,000 points for her career. Oliver also hit an SIU record-tying seven 3-pointers in the game on just eight attempts to become the first player in SIU history to go over 200 made 3-pointers for her career.
STREAK'S OVER
SIU'S 78-72 win over Missouri State Thursday helped the Salukis end a 24-game MVC losing streak. The 24-consecutive conference losses ties a Valley record set by Bradley from 1999 to 2000.
SOUTHERN'S DYNAMIC DUO
SIU has two of the top four scorers in the MVC in guards Teri Oliver and Cartaesha Macklin. Oliver is tied for second in the MVC at 18.0 points per game and Macklin ranks fourth in the Valley at 16.1 points per game.
PATTERSON IS DOUBLE TROUBLE
Freshman Center Alexus Patterson has three of four double-doubles and seven of the nine double-digit rebound games by SIU players this season. Patterson has significantly increased her presence in conference play, averaging 9.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in Valley action after averaging 2.8 points and 5.2 boards in non-conference play.
WE'RE TRENDING
SIU's win-loss column has been remarkably consistent with a few common stats throughout the season. The Salukis are 0-12 when shooting worse than opponents and 0-13 when shooting under 40 percent from the field. Conversely, Southern is 4-1 when shooting better than 40 percent and 4-2 when shooting for a better percentage than opponents. Southern also has yet to win a game when scoring fewer than 70 points this season (0-12) while the Salukis are 4-2 when scoring 70 or more. SIU's win over Missouri State marked the first time Southern has won a game when its opponent finished with more rebounds and the Salukis first win after being down at halftime.
CLOSE CALLS
SIU's win over Missouri State last Thursday was Southern's first win in a close game this season. SIU has lost eight games this season by 10 points or fewer. The Salukis held leads or ties in the final three minutes of regulation in six of those losses.
