Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball faces Bradley Saturday in Peoria
02/03/2012 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2012
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois women's basketball team travels to Bradley Saturday, looking for its first-ever win in Renaissance Coliseum.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Feb. 4
Time: 2 p.m. CST
Location: Peoria, Ill.
Site: Renaissance Coliseum (4,200)
Radio: 810 WDDD-AM
Play-by-play by Patrick Erickson
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Game Notes
Live Stats
Live Video (pay)
Game Central Audio (pay)
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (6-15, 2-8 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Third Year (180-137 overall, 13-67 at SIU)
Bradley Braves (12-10, 3-7 MVC)
Head Coach: Paula Buscher, 15th Year (204-220 overall and 161-182 at BU)
SIU VS. BRADLEY
Southern leads its all-time series with Bradley 41-20, but the Salukis have dropped seven straight in the series with nine 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 coming off an 82-64 win over Evansville Thursday in Peoria, which ended a three-game losing streak. Katie Yohn led three Braves in double figures with 18 points against the Purple Aces while Catie O'Leary scored 17 and Leah Kassing added 10. MacKenzie Westcott pulled down 15 rebounds in the win while Kelsey Budd had eight assists and three steals. Kassing leads the Braves in scoring and rebounding with season averages of 14.4 points and 8.3 boards per game. Kassing leads the MVC with a field goal percentage of .535 and ranks fourth in the league in rebounding. Behind Kassing, Yohn is second on the team with an average of 13.3 points per game. Bradley has the second-highest scoring offense in the MVC at 69.1 points per game and boasts the league's top team free throw percentage at 76.2 percent.
LAST TIME THEY MET
The Salukis stuck with the Braves through most of the game, but a late-game 11-0 Bradley run put the game out of reach in a 72-59 loss for SIU January 5 in Carbondale. 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.
SALUKIS FALL AT NORTHERN IOWA
Southern missed several clean looks at open shots and UNI ran away in the second half for a 73-51 win over the Salukis Thursday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Salukis launched a season-high 69 shots, but only made 21 for a 30.4 percent shooting clip. Cartaesha Macklin led Southern with 14 points while Teri Oliver added 12 points and a career-best nine rebounds.
TROUBLE WITH TRIPLES
Southern hit just one 3-pointer on 10 attempts Thursday against Northern Iowa, marking the least the Salukis have made in a game since making just one Jan. 23, 2011 against the Panthers in Carbondale. Southern made three or more in the 32 games in between. Also, Thursday's game marked the first time Teri Oliver has not made a 3-pointer in 41 games. Oliver's last game without a trey came Dec. 2, 2010 against Saint Louis. Oliver has made at least one 3-pointer in 69 of 76 games as a Saluki.
MACKLIN TIES FREE THROW RECORD
Cartaesha Macklin made all three of her free throw attempts against Northern Iowa Thursday, officially tying the SIU record for free throws in a season at 123. The freshman guard needs one more to overtake Char Warring for sole possession of the record. Warring needed 192 attempts to set the record during the 1983-84 season while Macklin has attempted just 158 thus far, which ranks third in SIU history for attempts in a season.
SUCCESS AT SIX
The Salukis' win over Evansville marked the team's sixth of the season, officially making this the program's most successful season under third-year head coach Missy Tiber. SIU won five games in Tiber's inaugural season before winning just two last year.
MACKLIN EARNS SECOND-STRAIGHT MVC NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK NOD
The MVC announced Monday freshman guard Cartaesha Macklin earned her second-consecutive MVC Newcomer of the week honor. The Mayo, Fla., native earned the nod after averaging 19.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in a pair of wins for the Salukis last week. The honor marks the third Newcomer of the Week nod for SIU this season. Macklin joins Illinois State's Jamie Russell, Drake's Kyndal Clark and Bradley's Shronda Butts as repeat Newcomer honorees.
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 227-135 all-time against other schools in the state of Illinois.
