Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball hosts Drake Saturday
01/04/2013 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2013
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois women's basketball team looks for its first Missouri Valley Conference win as the Salukis welcome Drake to SIU Arena Saturday.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5
Time: 2:05 p.m. CST
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Site: SIU Arena (8,339)
Radio: WVZA 105.1 FM
Play-by-play by Bryce Williams
Color commentary by Johnny Sole
Saluki All Access (live audio/video)
Saluki Women's Basketball Twitter
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (3-9, 0-1 MVC)
Head Coach: Missy Tiber, Fourth Year (185-153 overall, 18-83 at SIU)
Drake Bulldogs (5-7, 0-1 MVC)
Head Coach: Jennie Baranczyk, First Year (5-7 overall and at Drake)
SIU VS. DRAKE
The Salukis and the Bulldogs both enter Saturday's matchup seeking their first MVC win after dropping Thursday's conference openers. Drake leads the all-time series between the two teams 48-25 although they split last season with each team winning at home. Sophomore guard Kyndal Clark leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 14.1 points per game while junior forward Morgan Reid is second on the team at 11.3 points per game with a team-leading average of 7.9 rebounds per game. Junior guard Alyssa Marschner leads the MVC with an average of 5.2 assists per game.
LAST TIME THEY MET
The Salukis and Bulldogs swept last season's series with each team winning at home. Drake won 73-59 in Des Moines, Iowa and SIU won 63-59 in Carbondale. Teri Oliver led SIU with 18 points while Cartaesha Macklin added 15 points in the loss at Drake while MVC Player of the Year Rachael Hackbarth led four Bulldogs in double figures scoring with 25 points and 15 rebounds. In SIU's win, Macklin tallied 18 points and Oliver had 17 while Hackbarth had another double-double with 27 points and 16 boards.
LEADING THE SALUKIS
Sophomore guard Cartaesha Macklin leads SIU and ranks seventh in the MVC with an average of 14.3 points per game while freshman guard Rishonda Napier is second on the team at 10.5 points per game. Freshman center Dyana Pierre leads the MVC in rebounding and blocks with averages of 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Macklin leads the Salukis with an average of 3.6 assists per game.
SALUKIS STUMBLE IN MVC OPENER
SIU couldn't slow down a hot-shooting Creighton squad in an 81-60 MVC-opening loss to the Bluejays. Creighton shot 54.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. Rishonda Napier went 4-for-5 from 3-point rang and scored 16 points to lead the Salukis while Dyana Pierre added 12 points and seven rebounds and Cartaesha Macklin finished with 11 points and four assists. Sarah Nelson led four Bluejays in double figures scoring with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. SIU out-rebounded the Bluejays 33-32, but had 20 turnovers compared to Creighton's 13.
SIU IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
SIU fell below .500 all-time in conference openers with its loss to Creighton Thursday night. The Salukis are now 15-16 in conference openers since the 1983-84 season having dropped its Valley opener the last three seasons.
