Salukis to open conference slate at Illinois State on Sunday
01/02/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
| Game 12: Southern Illinois (7-4, 0-0 MVC) at Illinois State (0-11, 0-0 MVC) | |
| Date | Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 |
| Time | 2:05 p.m. CST |
| Location | Normal, Ill. -- Redbird Arena (10,200) |
| Video | RedbirdHD.tv (subscription) |
| Radio | WVZA 105.1 FM (1:45 airtime) |
| Audio Stream | Stretch Internet (free) |
| Notes | Southern Illinois | Illinois State | Missouri Valley |
| Season Stats | Southern Illinois | Illinois State | Missouri Valley |
| Live Stats | Sidearm Sports |
| SIU Media Guide | Media Guide |
| Social Media | @SIU_WBasketball  | Facebook  |
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
NORMAL, Ill. -- After starting the season with a historic 7-4 non-conference campaign, the Saluki women's basketball team will begin its Missouri Valley Conference slate at Illinois State this Sunday.
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (7-4, 0-0 MVC)
Head Coach: Cindy Stein • Second season • 294-235 career record (18th season) • 12-29 at SIU
Illinois State Redbirds (0-11, 0-0 MVC)
Head Coach: Barb Smith • Second season • 59-117 career record (seventh season) • 10-31 at Illinois State
ON THE AIR
Radio: WVZA 105.1 FM (1:45 airtime)
TV: None
Video Stream: RedbirdHD.tv (Subscription)
Audio Stream: Stretch Internet (free)
Play-by-Play: Bryce Williams and Johnny Sole
NOTES
SERIES HISTORY
The series between the Salukis and Redbirds is one of the longest in Southern's history, stretching back to the beginning of SIU women's basketball in 1961. ISU holds a 58-44 advantage in 102 total meetings and currently has a streak of 13 straight victories over the Salukis going back to 2008. SIU nearly broke the slide last year in Normal after now-senior Mercedes Griffin hit a game-tying three-pointer to send the game to overtime -- where the Redbirds prevailed 68-63.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
The Redbirds did not have any success in the non-conference season to open the year, falling to an 0-11 record entering Sunday's contest with SIU. However, the Redbirds have recent losses to No. 25 DePaul on Dec. 28 (99-62) and to 2014 NCAA Tournament team UT Martin (79-46) -- who Southern beat 87-78 to open the season. Offensively, ISU is paced by forward Octavia Crump, who averages 11.4 points per game and is shooting .578 from the field in her 11 starts.
SIU AGAINST THE MISSOURI VALLEY
Overall, SIU is 281-310 all-time versus the Missouri Valley Conference (formerly the Gateway Conference from 1983-92), which includes a 16-21 mark in the conference tournament. The Salukis are 265-289 (.478) all-time in regular season conference play dating back to its first season in the Gateway in 1983, and are 127-247 since the change to the MVC in 1992. The Valley has retained eight schools from the Gateway days (SIU, Bradley, Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State); Evansville joined the Valley in 1994, and Loyola most recently joined in 2013 to replace Creighton. Among active members of the Valley, SIU has an overall record of 272-309 and a conference mark of 237-266 dating back to 1983. In conference play (including the MVC Tournament), SIU has a winning record over two active teams: Bradley (42-24) and Wichita State (34-29); an even record with one team: Illinois State (34-34); and a losing record with the remaining six schools: Drake (24-43), Evansville (19-24), Indiana State (31-33), Loyola (0-2), Missouri State (23-45) and Northern Iowa (30-32). Among the three inactive Gateway/MVC schools (Creighton, Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois), SIU was 46-36 -- which included a perfect 18-0 Gateway mark against WIU and a 15-4 Gateway record versus EIU.
HISTORIC NON-CONFERENCE SEASON
After finishing 5-25 a year ago, the Salukis are off to a bewildering 7-4 start -- the best overall start since 1996-97 (7-4). It has been an extraordinary year of firsts for head coach Cindy Stein in her second year at the helm at SIU, which now includes the best road start since 1991-92 (3-1) and the first non-conference season above .500 since 1994-95.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
A significant facet of Southern's 7-4 start has been its 3-1 record on the road. That road start is the best for the Salukis since 1991-92 -- a season that saw a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Southern has not started 4-1 on the road since that same season. Last season, the Salukis went 0-9 on the road in MVC play. In fact, Southern's last road MVC win came at Evansville on Jan. 29, 2012 -- a slide of 22 games.
HISTORIC START
At 7-4, the Salukis are off to their best start since 1996-97. Here are another list of impressive firsts and milestones achieved through 10 games this season:
• First season-opening win since 2008.
• First season-opening victory on the road since 2000.
• SIU's 87 points against UT Martin was the most scored in any regulation game since Nov. 22, 2011 (at Tennessee State, 89).
• First home opener victory since 2008.
• First time SIU was 2-1 since 2008, 3-1 since 2005-06, 4-1 since 1991-92.
• First time SIU has won consecutive games since 2012-13.
• First time SIU has won consecutive games at home since 2008-09.
• SIU's 16-point victory over Southeast Missouri was the largest since Southern beat Evansville by 26 on Feb. 26, 2012 (72-46).
• First time SIU has won three-straight games since 2007-08.
• First time SIU has won three-straight home games since 2008-09.
• SIU's win over SEMO, combined with its 15-point win over Mercer, are the first consecutive 15-point victories since 2007-08.
• First time 5-2 since 1991-92.
• First time 2-1 on the road since 2002-03.
• First time 6-2 since 1991-92.
• Best home start (4-1) since 1996-97.
• Best start through 10 games since 1996-97 (6-4)
• Best start through 11 games since 1996-97 (7-4)
• Best road start since 1991-92 (3-1)
RECAPTURE THE MAGIC
Southern is looking to keep its success rolling into Missouri Valley play, and its also hoping to recapture some magic from last season's MVC opener. After a 2-9 non-conference season, Southern came out swinging in the Valley primer at home against Bradley, coming out on top in a wild double-overtime victory, 100-96. Last year's win pushed SIU over .500 all-time in conference openers; dating back to the beginning of the Gateway in 1983-84, SIU is 16-15 in conference openers.
THE SALUKI FIVE
Unlike previous seasons, the Salukis are coming into Missouri Valley play with a strong starting five. SIU's starting squad of redshirt sophomore Rishonda Napier (point guard), redshirt junior Cartaesha Macklin (guard), freshman Kylie Giebelhausen (guard), junior Azia Washington (forward) and junior Dyana Pierre (center) are 6-3 this season -- starting their first game together at home against Memphis and going on to win the next five of six games. Combined, the crew is averaging 54.9 points, 27.9 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 3.3 blocks and 3.8 steals in 27.42 minutes per game. Together, they are shooting 239-of-539 (.443) from the field and 55-of-144 (.382) from three.
PIERRE CAREER MILESTONES
Junior center Dyana Pierre recently passed a couple career milestones and has several more on the horizon. Pierre passed the 800 point threshold against Toledo, becoming just the 30th Saluki in history to break 800 in a career. At 818 points right now, Pierre is tied with Katrina Swingler for possession of 29th all-time at SIU. She has also jumped into the top-10 in rebounding, where she currently sits at ninth all-time with 686 career boards. For eighth all-time, Pierre needs to surpass 717, held by Bridgett Bonds.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR DYANA
Pierre recorded her 27th career double-double with an 16 point, 13 rebound performance at Morehead State,. At 27, Pierre is now only three shy of tying Wichita State's Antionette Wells for ninth all-time in MVC history. Pierre has had a double-double in six of SIU's 11 games (all wins) and currently averages a double-double on the season at 14.6 PPG (seventh in the MVC) and 11.1 rebounds per game (first in the Valley).
OH MY, SHE'S ON FIRE!
Redshirt sophomore Rishonda Napier missed most of the 2013-14 season, but it hasn't been noticeable through 11 games this season. Napier has led SIU in scoring in six of its 11 games so far and has yet to score fewer than 11 points. Also to her credit are five 20-point performances in SIU's 11 games. At 17.1 points per game, she leads all Salukis and ranks third in the conference behind Drake's Lizzy Wendell (23.2 PPG) and Evansville's Sara Dickey (18.3). She's also been invaluable in directing the offense. Her 3.4 assists per game rank second in the Valley, and her assist/turnover ratio ranks second at 1.4.
OPENING UP THE OFFENSE
The Saluki offense has really been clicking this year when Dyana Pierre is working down low. When Pierre has a double-double, SIU is 6-0 and the rest of the offense opens up as an after-effect. In four of those six games, Southern has had at least three scorers in double-digits. In all six games when Pierre has had a double-double, in addition to Pierre's 20.7 PPG SIU also has Rishonda Napier (17.2 PPG) and Cartaesha Macklin (10.2 PPG) averaging double-digits. In the same span the Salukis are shooting .471 from the field and .375 from three, and they are dishing out 17.0 assists per game opposed to 14.5 turnovers.
PROTECT THE ROCK
Thus far, the Salukis have taken good care of the ball. Even though SIU is averaging 15.3 turnovers per game, Southern has also showed massive improvement from previous years. SIU only turned the ball over eight times against Murray State, the first single-digit turnover game since SIU turned over nine at Marshall on Nov. 27, 2013. Eight turnovers is also the fewest turnover output since Feb. 19, 2009, when the Salukis only had seven at home against Illinois State. Against Murray State and last season's contest at Marshall are the only single-digit games since that seven-turnover day against Illinois State.
SHARING THE WEALTH
Sharing is caring when it comes to SIU's success so far this season. Southern is 6-1 when it has at least three scorers in double figures, with a season-high five double-digit scorers against UT Martin in the season opener. SIU's only loss with three double-digit scorers came against No. 14 Oregon State on Dec. 19. Additionally, Southern's ball movement and offensive scheme have helped facilitate the wide range of scorers; SIU has had at least 17 assists in five of 11 games, yielding an average of 13.1 per game.
OFF THE LINE
The Salukis are 5-2 this season when sinking more three-pointers than their opponents, and much of that has to do with Southern's three-point defense. Through 11 games, opponents are only managing 28.5 percent of their three-point attempts against the Saluki defense -- a clip that ranks second-best in the MVC. Complimenting that is SIU's .341 mark from beyond the arc, which ranks third-best in the Valley and has been helped greatly from SIU's trifecta-leaders Azia Washington (.478, second MVC), Rishonda Napier (.410, third MVC) and Kylie Giebelhausen (13 3PT field goals made, 15th in the Valley).
PERSEVERENCE
Southern has not been perfect this year, though, and two areas where that has been evident is in turnovers (15.3 per game) and free throw shooting (opponents have 40 more free throw attempts than SIU does). However, even though opponents are committing fewer turnovers and getting to the free throw line more than the Salukis, Southern is still finding ways to best those shortcomings and win. When committing more turnovers, SIU is 5-4; and when opponents get more attempts from the charity stripe Southern is 4-3.
OFFENSE EQUALS W'S
The is adage is "defense wins championships," but through 11 games Southern showing up stronger on the offense end has meant a check-mark in the win column. The Salukis are perfect 7-0 when scoring 60 or more points, but each of SIU's four losses have come with scoring outputs 55 or lower. Additionally, Southern is also a perfect 7-0 when out-shooting opponents from the field.
DYNAMIC DUO
Along with Napier, the return of redshirt junior guard Cartaesha Macklin has worked wonders for the Salukis in the backcourt. Combined, Napier and Macklin are scoring 26.4 points, grabbing 7.5 rebounds, dishing out 6.3 assists and recording 2.6 steals per game. Where the duo have been most noticeable have been on the assist front, helping Southern to at least 17 assists in five of its 11 games. For reference, last season SIU only had two such games without Napier and Macklin.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Freshman Kylie Giebelhausen wasted no time establishing herself as a central figure of SIU's lineup. She earned her first-career start against Memphis on Nov. 26 and hasn't disappointed. Giebelhausen has provided a spark on both sides of the ball, averaging 5.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Giebelhausen's 1.6 blocks per game ranks first in the Valley this season.
NEW TERRITORY
Junior forward Azia Washington advanced her game beyond the three-point arc this season. Entering 2014-15, Washington only had two 3-point field goals in two seasons with the Salukis. In 11 games this year, though, Washington has gone 11-of-23 from beyond the arc, giving Southern yet another deep threat. Right now, Washington ranks second among Valley scorers in three-point field goal percentage (.478).
SECOND CHANCE
The Salukis lead the Valley in rebounding margin by a wide berth at +3.5, and that is thanks largely to their work on the offensive end. Southern ranks second in the conference in offensive rebounds (14.3 per game) and has two of the top-five offensive rebounders in the Valley in Dyana Pierre (second, 3.5 per game) and Cartaesha Macklin (fifth, 2.5 per game). Macklin's work on the offensive glass has been particularly impressive; of her 50 rebounds, 28 are offensive.
MACKLIN CLIMBING UP THE RANKS
Even after sitting out for most of last season, redshirt junior Cartaesha Macklin returns as SIU's highest active scorer with 1,133 points through 11 games this year. Macklin currently sits in 17th place all-time in school history, one point behind Theia Hudson for 16th and five back of Angie Rougeau in 15th. Even taking her lowest season scoring total of 465, Macklin would be on pace to finish 2014-15 with 1,496 points -- which would place her fourth all-time with her senior season yet to come. Her career scoring average of 14.3 would finish ranked third all-time in Saluki history if she were to maintain that over the next two seasons.
SIU HANGS WITH NO. 14 OREGON STATE
Despite Oregon State's size and athleticism, the Saluki women's basketball team found itself in the middle of a potential upset bid before the country's 14th-ranked Beavers pulled away for a 71-55 victory over SIU on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
The Salukis (6-3) were anything but evenly matched on paper with the perfect Beavers (9-0), but Southern proved it could hang with the big kids throughout much of the contest. Most of the game was a back-and-forth tug-of-war between SIU and OSU with 10 ties and eight lead changes. Southern eventually took a seven-point lead over the Beavers late in the first half during a bizarre flurry of technical fouls toward the Oregon State bench that resulted in the ejection of OSU head coach Scott Rueck. The second half started out looking like it was going to be a heavyweight fight down to the wire before a 13-0 run by the Beavers gave them the push they needed to victory.
BIZARRE TURN FOR CORRIGAN
Sophomore Carlie Corrigan came through for the Salukis against Oregon State in perhaps the strangest of ways. With OSU leading 23-22, a bizarre change of events nearly gave SIU a key momentum swing against the 14th-ranked Beavers. Cartaesha Macklin was originally called for an over-the-back foul on a rebound, but the call was reversed to that of Oregon State's Ali Gibson. OSU's Deven Hunter was then immediately assessed a technical for reasons unclear, and not long after OSU head coach Scott Rueck received a technical and seconds later received his second technical and an ejection. Once the dust settled, SIU chose Corrigan to go to the charity stripe for Southern's six free shots from the technicals -- where she sank each and every one to give SIU a 28-23 lead over the Beavers. Corrigan finished as one of four Salukis in double-figures with 11 points.
SALUKIS WIN FIVE OF SIX
Southern bounced back from a rough loss to Illinois on Dec. 6 (86-42) with a strong 75-65 win over Austin Peay on Dec. 13 and another decisive win over Murray State (78-63) on Dec. 16. After starting the year 1-1, the Salukis went on to win five of their next six, improving to 6-2 for the first time since the 1991-92 season. Southern is also 2-1 on the road for the first time since the 2002-03 season and have the best home start (4-1) since 1996-97. In their wins this season, the Salukis are scoring 77.8 points per game and only allowing 65.8; shooting .473 from the field and .367 from three; out-rebounding opponents 42.5 to 34.7; and, averaging 11.5 assists, 4.6 steals and 4.5 blocks per game.
SALUKIS OVERPOWER RACERS, 78-63
It was the Dyana Pierre show Dec. 16 at SIU Arena, where her school-record 14-of-14 performance from the field for 31 points helped push the Salukis to a 78-63 victory over Murray State. Pierre was the driving force for the Salukis (6-2) on both sides of the ball, chipping in 11 rebounds and three blocks for her 26th career double-double and helping Southern out-rebound a tall and physical Murray State (3-7) squad 43-35 in the winning effort. The Salukis are now 6-2 for the first time since the historic NCAA Tournament team of 1991-92, but are also now 4-1 at home -- the best home start since the Salukis went 5-0 to start the 1996-97 season.
PERFECT PIERRE
Preseason All-MVC center Dyana Pierre had herself a day against Murray State on Dec. 16, putting in a performance that will be remembered not only by SIU's record books but by the NCAA as well. Pierre went a perfect 14-of-14 from the field for 31 points, breaking Connie Price-Smith's 1982 single game school record of field goals without a miss -- which was 12-of-12. At the same time, her 14-of-14 performance made her just the seventh player in the history of the NCAA to be perfect on at least 14 attempts -- becoming the first to do so since 2002.
NAPIER SCORES 500TH POINT
Napier also became the 53rd Saluki in SIU history to pass the 500-point threshold against Murray State. She only needed three entering and her 20 points against the Racers pushed her career total to 517. She became the second Saluki to pass 500 this year alone, as junior Azia Washington already passed the milestone. Right now she sits at 563 career points.
ATTENDANCE JUMPS UP
A factor in SIU's win over Murray State was the Field Trip Day crowd of 1,655. That crowd is the 12th-highest in the history of Saluki women's basketball at SIU Arena -- the second time this season that SIU has attracted more than 1,600 to the Arena. On Dec. 6, 1,975 came out to see the Salukis play the Illini.
VALLEY RANKINGS
Through 11 games this season the Salukis are in the top-three of several team categories, including:
• Rebounding margin (1st, +3.5)
• Scoring offense (2nd, 67.0 PPG)
• Field goal percentage (2nd, .418)
• Three-point defense (2nd, .285)
• Rebounding offense (2nd, 40.7/game)
• Rebounding defense (2nd, 37.3/game)
• Blocked shots (2nd, 4.4/game)
• Offensive rebounds (2nd, 14.3/game)
• Three-point percentage (3rd, .341)
Individually, several Salukis also rank in the top-three:
Dyana Pierre:
• Rebounding (1st, 11.1/game)
• Defensive rebounds (1st, 7.5/game)
• Field goal percentage (2nd, .550)
• Offensive rebounds (2nd, 3.5/game)
Rishonda Napier:
• Assists (2nd, 3.4/game)
• Assist/turnover ratio (2nd, 1.4)
• Scoring (3rd, 17.1 PPG)
• Three-point percentage (3rd, .410)
Azia Washington:
• Three-point percentage (2nd, .478)
Kylie Giebelhausen:
• Blocked shots (1st, 1.6/game)
SALUKIS WIN THREE STRAIGHT
In their first home games of the season, the Salukis took care of business with three-straight home wins over Thanksgiving break against Memphis (82-75), Southeast Missouri (78-62) and Mercer (67-52). Helping the Salukis to their first three-game streak in six seasons was a .467 clip from the field on 92-of-197 shooting -- including a 34 percent mark from three at 17-of-50. The Saluki defense was vital as well, holding opponents to .378 from the field and .188 from beyond the arc. The Salukis finished on the plus side of the assist/turnover ratio with 14.3 assists per game, as well as 7.7 blocks per game -- with 12 of SIU's 23 blocks coming solely from freshman Kylie Giebelhausen.
SIU RANKED NO. 32 IN FIRST RPI
In the initial official NCAA RPI rankings released on Dec. 2, Southern Illinois was ranked as the highest MVC school at No. 32 after its 4-1 start with significant wins over UT Martin, Memphis and Mercer. In total, three Valley schools were ranked in the top-55 in the initial poll, with Wichita State at No. 46 and Indiana State at No. 52.
SALUKIS STUN SKYHAWKS, 87-78
Coming off a 5-25 season that saw a rough 85-55 loss to UT Martin, the Salukis took vengeance on the 2014 NCAA Tournament Skyhawks with an 87-78 victory on Nov. 14 in Martin to kick off the 2014-15 season. Southern played exceptional basketball in just about every facet of the game. The Salukis shot an unreal 51.6 percent from the field on 17 assists -- more assists than in any regulation game last season. SIU dominated UTM on the glass, out-rebounding the Skyhawks 43-27 -- which included 12 offensive boards for the Salukis that led to 18 second-chance points. Southern didn't stop there, as they also displayed a tenacious defense in the second half to hold UTM to 18.2 percent from the beyond the arc after the Skyhawks sank two-thirds of their three-point attempts in the first half. Most importantly, SIU used a solid rotation of 11 student-athletes -- a stark contrast from only having eight scholarship athletes in 2013-14.
SALUKI RADIO NETWORK
The flagship station for Saluki women's basketball is WVZA 105.1 FM, although 10 regular season games will be broadcast on WHET 97.7 FM due to conflicts with SIU men's basketball broadcasts. Bryce Williams is in his third season as the full-time radio broadcaster for Saluki women's basketball. All audio from Saluki basketball games are also available for free through Stretch Internet on SIUSalukis.com.
FOLLOW US
The official Twitter of Saluki women's basketball is @SIU_WBasketball. This account features team news as well as live in-game updates. Fans can also follow Saluki Athletics @SIUSalukis for news on all SIU sports.
SALUKI ALL-ACCESS
Video coverage for every home Saluki women's basketball game is available online though Saluki All-Access at www.SIUSalukis.com/allaccess. Saluki All-Access also has on-demand content for all 18 Saluki sports. Beginning with SIU's Nov. 14 matchup with UT-Martin, audio will be available for free for both home and road games through Stretch Internet. Links can be found on the schedule page on SIUSalukis.com.
SALUKI NEWS ONLINE
SIUSalukis.com is the official website for SIU Athletics. It is the best source for up-to-date information on the Saluki women's basketball team. Rosters, box scores, cumulative statistics, pre-game notes and other materials are available on the site. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read PDF files.
