Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball hosts Northern Iowa Saturday
01/06/2012 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2012
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.— The Southern Illinois women's basketball team hosts Northern Iowa Saturday, still searching for its first Missouri Valley Conference win.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Jan. 7
Time: 5:05 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 (3-10, 0-3 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Third Year (177-132 overall, 10-62 at SIU)
Northern Iowa Panthers (9-5, 2-1 MVC)
Head Coach: Tanya Warren, Fourth Year (77-64 overall and at UNI)
SIU VS. NORTHERN IOWA
Southern leads its all-time series with UNI 30-26, but the Salukis have dropped the last four in the series. The Panthers enter the matchup having started Missouri Valley Conference play 2-1. UNI fell to Wichita State to open the season before picking up wins over league favorite Missouri State and Evansville. The Panthers present a balanced offense as three players average between 11.6 and 11.4 points per game. Rachael Madrigal leads the Panthers with an average of 11.6 points while Katelin Oney averages 11.5 points and K.K. Armstrong averages 11.4 points per game. Also for the Panthers, Amber Kirschbaum leads the team with an average of 8.3 rebounds per game to go along with 9.6 points per game.
BRADLEY PULLS AWAY LATE AS SALUKIS FALL 72-59
The Salukis stuck with the Braves through most of the night, but a key late-game 11-0 run by Bradley put the game out of reach. Southern struggled to a 35.0 shooting percentage (21-for-60) and made just 54.5 percent from the free throw line (12-for-22). Cartaesha Macklin led SIU with 19 points while Teri Oliver chipped in 12 points.
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 18.4 points per game and Macklin ranks fourth in the Valley at 15.8 points per game. Oliver ranks fourth nationally with an average of 3.3 made 3-pointers per game and 38th nationally in scoring. The leading scorer among Valley newcomers, Macklin ranks ninth in the conference with a free throw percentage of 74.3 percent and has made it to the line an MVC-leading 109 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 seven games after having no more than six boards in a game in Southern's previous six games. 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 has made just 51.4 percent of their free chances (37-for-72) in three Valley games. 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 48.3 percent clip (14-for-29) through two Valley games.
OLIVER FOR THREE
Junior guard Teri Oliver became SIU's all-time leader in made 3-pointers earlier this season when she knocked down three treys November 29 at Northern Illinois to surpass Karrie Redeker (1988-92) in the school annals. Through Sunday, Oliver has made 188 career 3-pointers, which is tied for 24th in MVC history. The Kokomo, Ind., native ranks fifth nationally with an average of 3.3 made 3-pointers per game.
SHANNON'S BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore center CiCi Shannon has already cemented herself as the top shot blocker in school history. She blocked three shots in SIU's December 8 win over IUPUI to supplant Kathy Kampwerth (1985-89) as SIU's career leader in blocked shots. Through last week, Shannon has blocked 120 shots in her career, which ranks 18th in MVC history. The Hazel Crest, Ill., native nearly doubled the school's single-season record with 82 blocks last year, and her 2011-12 total of 38 blocks is tied for fourth in school history. She currently ranks 10th nationally with an average of 2.9 blocks per game.
