Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball hosts Bradley Thursday
01/04/2012 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2012
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.— The Southern Illinois women's basketball hosts Bradley Thursday night for its Missouri Valley Conference home opener as both team's seek their first Valley win.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, Jan. 5
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Site: SIU Arena (8,339)
Radio: 810 WDDD-AM
Play-by-play by Patrick Erickson
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Game Notes
Game Tracker
Game Central Audio/Video
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (3-9, 0-2 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Third Year (177-131 overall, 10-61 at SIU)
Bradley Braves (9-5, 0-2 MVC)
Head Coach: Paula Buscher, 12th Year (201-215 overall, 158-177 at BU)
SIU VS. BRADLEY
Southern leads its all-time series with Bradley, but the Salukis have dropped six straight in the series with eight consecutive losses in regular season games. SIU's last win over the Braves came in the 2008 MVC Tournament and the Salukis' last regular season win against Bradley was Feb. 9, 2007. The Braves enter the matchup having lost their first two conference games last week to Missouri State and Wichita State. Bradley is, however, off to a strong start on the overall season having posted a 9-3 record in non-conference play. Senior center Leah Kassing leads the Braves in scoring and rebounding with season averages of 13.9 points and 8.6 boards per game. Kassing leads the MVC with a field goal percentage of .563 and ranks fourth in the league in rebounding. Behind Kassing, junior guard Katie Yohn is second on the team with an average of 12.1 points per game and sophomore Catie O'Leary is third on the team at 9.9 points per game. Bradley has the second-highest scoring offense in the MVC at 69.7 points per game and boasts the league's top team free throw percentage at 76.0 percent.
SALUKI COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN 72-66 LOSS AT INDIANA STATE
Southern rallied from a 19-point first half deficit to take a lead in the second half, but the Salukis couldn't complete the comeback Sunday on the road. Teri Oliver led SIU with 18 points while Alexus Patterson picked up the Salukis' first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Also for the Salukis, Cartaesha Macklin added nine points, five rebounds and seven assists.
SOUTHERN'S DYNAMIC DUO
SIU has two of the top four scorers in the MVC in guards Teri Oliver and Cartaesha Macklin. Oliver ranks second in the MVC with an average of 18.9 points per game and Macklin ranks fourth in the Valley at 15.6 points per game. Through last week's games, Oliver ranks third nationally with an average of 3.4 made 3-pointers per game and 31st nationally in scoring. The leading scorer among Valley newcomers, Macklin ranks seventh in the conference with a free throw percentage of 76.3 percent and has made it to the line an MVC-leading 97 times.
PATTERSON HITS THE GLASS
Freshman center Alexus Patterson has emerged as one of the MVC's top rebounders in recent weeks. The Knoxville, Tenn., native has posted four double-digit rebound totals in SIU's last six games after having no more than six boards in a game in Southern's previous six games. Her recent emergence has pushed her to 10th in the MVC with a season average of 6.5 rebounds per game and she leads all Valley newcomers in rebounding.
FREE THROW FRUSTRATION
An area that has plagued the Salukis through the start of MVC play is poor free throw shooting. Southern shot 50 percent from the charity stripe in each of their first two conference games for a total of 25-for-50. Southern's leading free throw shooter, Cartaesha Macklin, shot 83.9 percent from the line (67-for-80) in non-conference play, but has struggled to a 41.2 percent clip (7-for-17) through two Valley games.
CLOSE CALLS
SIU's six-point loss to Indiana State Sunday was one of several instances this season in which the Salukis have been on the brink of winning, only to fall short late. Southern has lost four games by six points or fewer, and the Salukis held leads in the final minutes of each of those losses. In a fifth loss, SIU's 70-60 overtime defeat against SIU Edwardsville, Southern held a lead near the end of regulation before allowing a last-second Cougar bucket to force overtime.
SALUKIS STAY IN-STATE
SIU's 2011-12 schedule features matchups against seven different in-state schools. That is the most Illinois teams the Salukis have faced since the 1983-84 season. Southern is 227-134 all-time against other schools in the state of Illinois.
