Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball hosts Bradley for Blackout Cancer Game
01/07/2016 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
| Bradley (4-8, 0-1 MVC) at Southern Illinois (9-5, 2-0 MVC) | |
| Date | Friday, Jan. 8, 2016 |
| Time | 6 p.m. CT |
| Location | Carbondale, Ill. / SIU Arena (9,000) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois |
| Game Notes | Bradley |
| Video | ESPN3 |
| Radio | Saluki All-Access |
| Live Stats | Game Tracker |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Media Guide | SIU Media Guide |
| Social Media | @SIU_WBasketball |
By: Will Becque
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois women's basketball begins a three-game homestand against the Bradley Braves on Friday, Jan. 8. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m., inside the SIU Arena. The Salukis (9-5, 2-0 MVC) look to win for the sixth time in seven tries, with a win Friday night giving SIU its best Valley start since the 1993-94 season. The contest will air on ESPN3 and on WVZA 105.1 FM, and marks the annual Blackout Cancer game, with fans encouraged to wear black.
Southern Illinois opened Valley play with a pair of big road wins at Drake and Northern Iowa this past weekend, improving to 9-5 for the first time since 1994-95. The two wins also gave SIU its first 2-0 start in Valley play since 2006-07, and snapped a couple of nasty streaks. First, the victory over the Bulldogs broke a nine-game losing streak at Drake dating back to Feb. 16, 2007 while the win at Northern Iowa was the first for the Salukis since Jan. 13, 2007.
The Salukis' RPI reflects two wins over teams picked to finish in the Top-3 in the Valley, as Southern has the best RPI in the Valley at 91. Missouri State is second (101), while Drake (108), Loyola (148) and Northern Iowa (158) round out the top-five. The Braves come into Friday's contest at 242, with Bradley's last win in a Valley road opener coming in Carbondale, Ill. on Jan. 5, 2012.
The Braves opened Valley play with a 67-54 loss to Loyola on Jan. 3, and have lost four-straight. Bradley is led by sophomore Anneke Schlueter, who is averaging 11.8 points per game, with nearly two-thirds of it coming from the 3-ball. 67 percent of her shots this season have come from three-point range.
"Bradley is a game I can see our team really looking forward to playing," said SIU head coach Cindy Stein. "It's always been a very physical game. We've got to keep focused on the game plan, and not some of the stuff that they try to get us into to get our focus off. I know I'm looking forward to playing (Bradley)."
Also returning for the Braves is sophomore Tamya Sims, who averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds against Southern last season and is currently averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season.
"Sims has really improved, and she has a lot more versatility to her game (this season)," said Stein.
Southern is 4-2 at home this season, outscoring their opponents in the SIU Arena by 10 points, 73.8-to-63.5. The Salukis have also won the battle of the boards in all six home games this season.
The Salukis continue their three-game homestand on Sunday, Jan. 10 against Loyola. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
The Salukis and the Braves will meet for the 70th time in a rivalry that dates back to 1983 when Southern played in the Gateway Conference. The two programs have split the 50 Valley games, 25-25 that the two have played beginning with a SIU win in Carbondale, 85-57 on Jan. 30, 1992. The Salukis went a 12-year, 21-game stretch, from 1983-1995 without a loss to the Braves, running off a 36-2 through the 2000-01 season. Bradley returned the favor winning 22 of the next 27 games. The Salukis have won three of the last four under head coach Cindy Stein, snapping an 11-game skid to the Braves with a 100-96 double overtime win inside the SIU Arena on Jan. 2, 2014. Southern also swept the season series last year for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
LAST TIME
SIU 72, BRADLEY 66
It was anyone's game for the first 35 minutes of play, but a late defensive stand helped the Saluki women's basketball team pull ahead for a 72-66 victory over Bradley at Renaissance Coliseum on Feb. 27, 2015. Southern was led by Cartaesha Macklin (25 points, 8-of-15 FG, 2-of-5 3PT, 7-of-8 FT) and Rishonda Napier (21 points, six assists, 4-of-6 3PT, 5-of-6 FT).
RPI RANKINGS
According to Warrennolan.com, SIU jumped 27 spots to 91st with the win over Northern Iowa and Drake and now has the highest RPI of any Valley school. Missouri State sits 10 spots back (101) while Drake (108), Loyola (148), and Northern Iowa (158) round out the top five. Bradley comes into the contest at 242.
BUCKING THE TREND
Southern Illinois' win at both Drake and Northern Iowa this past weekend not only improved SIU to 9-5 for the first time since 1994-95 and gave it its first 2-0 start in Valley play since 2006-07, but it also snapped a couple of nasty streaks. First, the victory over the Bulldogs broke a nine-game losing streak at Drake dating back to Feb. 16, 2007 while the win at Northern Iowa was the first for the Salukis since Jan. 13, 2007.
Southern is seeking its first 3-0 Valley start since the 1993-94 season, and the Salukis have never started 4-0 since beginning play in the Valley in 1992.
NEBO NAMED MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Southern Illinois swept a road trip to Drake and UNI--both teams picked to finish in the top-3 in the MVC this season, and Kim Nebo averaged 6.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two wins, in addition to her lock-down defense. Nebo held preseason MVC Player of the Year Lizzy Wendell to 1-for-13 shooting through three quarters in SIU's win at Drake, and also grabbed 15 rebounds in that game, the most by any MVC player this year outside of teammate Dyana Pierre.
Nebo is the second Saluki to earn MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors this season, joining Rishonda Napier who earlier in the season became the first Saluki to earn MVC Scholar-athlete of the week honors since Christine Presswood did so during the 2009-10 season.
THE STEIN EFFECT
Since Cindy Stein's arrival in Carbondale, the Salukis have taken better care of the basketball than previous SIU squads. In 2013-14, Stein's first season at the helm, the Salukis finished with more assists than turnovers in three games- which was as many times as SIU had accomplished that feat in the previous three seasons combined. The following season, the Salukis finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio 14 times, the most since the 2007-08 team that accomplished the task 12 times en route to a WNIT berth. This season, the Salukis have finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio seven times in 14 contests, and did so in four-straight games for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Salukis are 19-5 under Stein when recording more assists than turnovers.
PIERRE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Senior center Dyana Pierre was again one of six honorees on the MVC's Preseason All-Conference team. Pierre is coming off a superb junior campaign in which she became only the third Saluki to earn First-Team All-MVC honors in back-to-back seasons since Valley play began in 1992-93.
Pierre has led the conference in rebounds in each of her three seasons, and her 10.2 career rebounds per game currently ranks her third in MVC history.
MACKLIN CLIMBING UP THE RANKS
Cartaesha Macklin passed Petra Jackson with her 23 points in the win over Drake to move into 4th all-time in SIU history. She currently has 1,498 career points. She needs 41 points to pass Amy Rakers (1987-1991) for most all-time. Over a 16-game stretch she would need to average just 2.56 points per game this season to pass Rakers.
Macklin also needs to play 115 minutes over the course of the season to have played the most minutes in Saluki history. She currently ranks second at 3,457.
1,000 POINTS-500 REBOUNDS CLUB
With eight rebounds in the win over Morehead State, Cartaesha Macklin became the 16th Saluki to score over 1000 points and grab 500 or more rebounds. Macklin is just the fourth to join the club since the 2001 season, with Dyana Pierre being the most recent member and also became the first Saluki to ever amass 1,400 points, 400 assists, and 500 rebounds in a career.
PIERRE ALL-TIME LEADING REBOUNDER
Sue Faber has some company. The 1983 SIU graduate, who scored 1,507 points and snagged 1,014 career rebounds has sat alone atop the all-time list as the top rebounder in Southern's history, as well as the lone member of the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club. Senior Dyana Pierre became the second Saluki to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds with her 14 boards in the win over Morehead State, and with her seven boards in the victory over SEMO became Southern's all-time leading rebounder. The redshirt senior forward is third all-time in Valley history.
Pierre became just the sixth in Valley history, and the first since 2008, to amass 1,000 pts/1,000 rebounds, joining:
Jennifer Kackza (Wichita State)
Alex Cook (UNI)
Angela Buckner (Wichita State)
Jill Martin (Drake)
Wanda Ford (Drake)
PIERRE HITS THE CENTURY MARK
In the win over SEMO on Dec. 22, Dyana Pierre not only broke the school rebounding record- she also became the 39th Saluki to play in 100 games and will make her 100th career start against Bradley.
MACKLIN MOVING ON UP
By playing against Bradley on Friday, Cartaesha Macklin will pass former Saluki standout Katrina Swingler with her 113th game played, moving into a two-way tie for 11th place in the category. By playing in 10 of the Salukis remaining 16 regular season games, Macklin can become the Salukis all-time leader in games played.
HAWKINS TO REDSHIRT
Head coach Cindy Stein announced that freshman Tiajaney Hawkins will require surgery on her injured shoulder, an injury she suffered against Memphis on Nov. 29, and will medically redshirt for the remainder of this season. Hawkins appeared in five games this season, averaging three points and one rebound.
TWO GOOD HALVES MAKE A WHOLE
Southern scored 50 points in the first half during its win over Morehead State on Dec. 12- its most in an opening half since tallying 52 points in the first half of a 95-76 victory over Indiana State on Jan. 3, 2008. The Salukis scored 52 points in the second half, the most in any half since putting up 52 in the second half against Saint Louis University on Nov. 14, 2008.
3 SQUAD #BOOM
The Salukis drained 10 3-pointers in the win over Morehead State, including a career-high tying six from Rishonda Napier. It marked the first time that Southern has made double-digits 3s since March 14, 2013 against Evansville, and Napier's six 3s were the fifth-most in a single game in program history.
Napier again tied a career-high with six three-pointers in the Dec. 19 win over Mercer, marking the second consecutive game in which she hit six triples. She is the first player in program history to hit six from beyond the arc in back-to-back contests and is the first Saluki since Teri Oliver in 2009-10 with five or more threes in back-to-back games. The Burbank, Calif. native ranks third in the Valley in 3-point field goal percentage (.438) and second in 3-pointers per game (2.8).
Southern is 8-1 this season when Napier makes 40% of her 3-point attempts.
SHOWING THEIR RANGE
The Salukis made 10 3-pointers in the win over Drake, the second time this season they've made 10-plus three-pointers. The last time that SIU made 10-plus threes twice in a season was the 2011-12 season, as Southern made 11 against UT Martin on Dec. 18, 2011 and followed with 11 in a 78-72 MVC win over Missouri State on Jan. 19, 2012.
ACTIVE AROUND THE RIM
The Salukis out-rebounded Morehead State, 63-to-45 in the win on Dec. 12. SIU finished one off the school-record, and it marks the eighth-most rebounds in a single game in Valley history. The +18 rebounding margin was the largest for SIU since the Salukis posted a +20 in a 76-71 overtime win over Murray State on Dec. 19, 2009.
Eight of SIU's 9 wins this season have come in games in which Southern wins the rebounding battle, with the Salukis out-rebounding their opponent in a total of 11 of their 14 contests this season. The Dawgs are averaging 44.36 boards per contest, the 25th most per game in the NCAA, and have four players averaging five rebounds or more per game: Dyana Pierre (11.5), Kylie Giebelhausen (5.2), Cartaesha Macklin (5.6) and Kim Nebo (5.4).
The Salukis are currently 20th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (16.0) and 29th in total rebounds (621) while Bradley comes into Friday's showdown averaging 36.3 rebounds per tilt.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
The Salukis broke a 31-year old school record with 102 points in the win over Morehead State on Dec. 12. The previous record was 101, set on March 5, 1984. It's just the fourth time that Southern has cracked the century mark, and the second time during the Cindy Stein era. The +33 point margin of victory was the largest for SIU since a +33 win over Wichita State on March 3, 2007. The Salukis also had seven score in double figures- the first time that has happened dating back to the 1978-79 season.
CANT CHECK ME
Rishonda Napier has only been held scoreless once in her career- in a 77-64 loss to Indiana State her freshman year.
CORRIGAN PROVIDES BENCH DEPTH
Carlie Corrigan sits just 14 points from 200 for her career. She would become the 92nd Saluki to amass 200 points/100 rebounds. Corrigan, who has been the Salukis' sixth-man this season and is a team captain, has played 20 or more minutes in six of SIU's 14 games.
NAPIER MAKING HISTORY
The redshirt junior from Bolingbrook, Calif. joined an exclusive club in the win over Drake on Jan. 1. Napier became the 24th Saluki, and third on the active roster, to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Napier is now one of eight active Valley student-athletes with 1,000 career points, joining teammates Cartaesha Macklin and Dyana Pierre, as well as Lizzy Wendell (Drake), Kenzie Williams (Missouri State), Sara Dickey (Evansville), Tyonna Snow (Missouri State) and Taylor Johnson (Loyola).
Napier needs just 13 steals to reach 100 and become the 10th Saluki, joining teammate Cartaesha Macklin, to score 1,000 points, snag 200 rebounds, dish out 200 assists and tally 100 steals.
Dyana Pierre has an outside chance of joining Napier and Macklin in that club, needing eight assists and 19 steals to do so
MACKLIN CLEANING THE GLASS
57 times in her storied career, including eight times this season, Cartaesha Macklin has grabbed five or more rebounds in a single game, including nine boards in the win over SEMO on Dec. 22. The Salukis are 6-2 this season when Macklin grabs 5+ rebounds.
FEWEST FOULS
Southern leads the Valley, and is 15th in the nation in committing the fewest personal fouls per game- averaging just 14.3 fouls per game. The Salukis were whistled for just nine fouls in the win over Drake on Jan. 1. That's the fewest they've been called for this season, and marks the third time in the Cindy Stein era the Salukis have been called for single-digit fouls, last accomplishing the feat on Feb. 22, 2015 against Wichita State.
MACKLIN AT THE STRIPE
Cartaesha Macklin leads the Valley, and is ninth in the nation, in free throw percentage, currently shooting at a 90.5% (38-of-42) clip.
Macklin passed Molly McDowell (1999-03) for most free throws made in a career with her 368th make in the win over Murray State on Dec. 2 and needs to make just two free throws to pass Tara Mitchem (Missouri State) for 16th on the Valley's all-time list.
PIERRE RANKED NATIONALLY
Dyana Pierre leads the Valley in rebounds (149), rebounds per game (11.5) and offensive rebounds per game (4.0), while ranking 16th in the nation in total rebounds, 13th in rebounds per contest, and 11th in offensive rebounds per game.
NEBO EMERGES AS FIFTH STARTER
The Salukis have used four different lineups this season, usually coinciding with which lineup gives SIU the best matchups for each opponent. For the first time this season, Southern has used the same lineup for four-straight contests, with Kim Nebo emerging as a potential fifth starter. Nebo logged a career-high 31 minutes in the win over Drake, holding preseason MVC Player of the Year Lizzy Wendell to just three points on 1-of-13 shooting through three quarters, while setting new career-bests in rebounds (15), offensive rebounds (6), defensive rebounds (9) and assists (3).
SALUKI RADIO NETWORK
The flagship station for Saluki women's basketball is WVZA 105.1 FM. Bryce Williams is in his fourth season as the full-time radio broadcaster for Saluki women's basketball. All audio from Saluki basketball games are available on SIUSalukis.com.
FOLLOW US
The official Twitter and Instagram 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 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.
