Southern Illinois University
Indiana State
Women's Basketball travels to Indiana State on Thursday
03/01/2017 | 4:34:00 | Women's Basketball
All-Time vs. the Sycamores
The Salukis and the Sycamores meet for the 90th time in a series that dates back to the 1968-69 season. SIU had won four-straight over Indiana State before the Sycamores defeated the Salukis, 68-53 on New Year's Day. With the win, the Sycamores now lead the all-time series, 45-44. The Salukis have won two-straight in the Hulman Center, including last season's 62-58 win. Prior to those two wins under fourth-year head coach Cindy Stein, Southern hadn't won in Terre Haute since 1999.
Scouting the Sycamores
The Sycamores come into Thursday night's matchup having lost four-straight, and five of their last six. Indiana State's last win came on Feb. 12, a 53-32 win over Loyola. The Sycamores have struggled offensively, at times, this season, averaging 55.6 points per game, the eighth-fewest in the league. Indiana State's defense, however, has been its saving grace, as they come in allowing just 57.7 points per game and are holding opponents to 35.2% shooting from the field- both of which lead the Valley. Ashley Taia leads the Sycamores with a 12.3 points per game average.
Current Salukis vs. the Sycamores
Rishonda Napier comes into Thursday's game just four points shy of 100 for her career against the Sycamores. She's averaging 13.7 points, 4.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals in seven career games against Indiana State. Kylie Giebelhausen is averaging 9.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in five career meetings with the Sycamores. Macklin as the only two Salukis to have played 4,000-plus minutes. Macklin played 4,088 career minutes.
Time is on her side
Rishonda Napier became the second player in school history to eclipse the 4,000 career minute mark, joining Cartaesha Macklin as the only Salukis to have done so. Napier has now played 4,024 career minutes, and needs to play just 65 more minutes this season to break Macklin's school record of 4,088 minutes, set a year ago.
Moving on up
Rishonda Napier made one three-pointer against Illinois State over the weekend and now has 270 career three-pointers. Not only is that tied for the 11th-most three-pointers by an active DI player, but the Burbank, Calif. native needs to make just two more to pass Missouri State's Kari Koch for third on the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time list.
1. 294- Dayna Finch (Creighton, 2001-04)
2. 276-Brittany Schoen (Ind. St., 2008-12)
3. 271-Kari Koch (Mo. St., 2002-06)
4. 270-Rishonda Napier (SIU, 2012-pres.)
Getting Buckets in the Paint
The Salukis scored 30 of their 69 points in the paint to post their sixth-straight win over the Bradley Braves. It marked the eighth time this season that SIU has scored 30-plus points in the paint, and Southern improved to 8-0 on the season when doing so.
Tweaking the lineup
Ashley Hummel made her first career start against Evansville. It marked the seventh different lineup that the Salukis have used this season.
300 Career Field Goals
Kylie Giebelhausen made the 300th field goal of her career in the first quarter of SIU's win over Illinois State on Feb. 24. She became the 33rd Saluki to reach 300 career field goals and has 311 for her career.
Top-10 in another category
Rishonda Napier recorded a season-high four steals in the win over Illinois State, and has now recorded multiple steals in 15 of SIU's 27 games this season. She sits in ninth on SIU's all-time list with 146.
Forcing Turnovers
SIU forced 19 Illinois State turnovers and came away with 12 steals on Feb. 24, both of which are season-bests against a DI opponent. The Salukis tallied 13 steals and 23 turnovers in their Nov. 23 win over NAIA opponent Brescia University.
Cracking the top-25
Rishonda Napier moved up to 24th on the MVC's all-time list for points, as she now has 1,693 career points. She needs nine points to pass Diane Roberts (UNI, 1985-88) for 23rd. The redshirt senior guard is also just seven points from becoming the second Saluki to score 1,700 career points.
Dynamic Duo
Kylie Giebelhausen and Rishonda Napier are 1-2 in the league in three-pointers made, as Giebelhausen has made 68 while Napier sits at 64. The duo is the first pair in school history to make at least 60 three pointers in back-to-back seasons. Last season, Napier finished with the second-most made treys in school history (85), while Giebelhausen made the 10th-most in a single-season (60) to become the first Saluki twosome since Christine Presswood and Teri Olivier in 2009-10 to make 60-plus three-pointers in a season. Should Giebelhausen and Napier finish 1-2 in the Valley in three-pointers made, it will mark the third-straight season that teammates have done so. Northern Iowa's Amber Sorenson and Madison Weekly finished first and second in the league in each of the past two seasons.
Milestones a plenty
Kylie Giebelhausen made 3-of-5 from three-point range in the win over Illinois State and ranks third on SIU's all-time list. The East Peoria, Ill. native dished out her 200th career assist earlier this season, becoming one of only 21 Salukis to dish out 200-plus helpers in a career, and became just the 4th Saluki to swat 100 career shots with her last block. She is the only player in SIU history with at least 800 career points/300 rebounds/200 assists/100 blocks.
More milestones
Napier become the 3rd Saluki with 400-plus career assists with her seven assists in the win over the Shockers. She joined D.D. Plab (508) and Cartaesha Macklin (486) as the only Salukis with 400-plus career assists. The two-time All-MVC selection is averaging 4.7assists per contest this season, second to only Caitlin Ingle in the Valley. If her average holds, it would be the ninth-highest in a single-season in school history, and the most since Stephany Neptune averaged 5.0 assists per game during the 2009-10 season.
Comeback Kids
SIU erased a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the Northern Iowa Panthers, 64-59 on Sunday. It marked the third time this season that the Salukis have rallied to win after trailing by a deficit of 15 points or more. SIU roared back from being down 15 to down the SEMO Redhawks on Dec. 9, and later came back from being down 16 points to stun the UMKC Kangaroos on their home floor. The 2016-17 Salukis are the first team in recorded school history to have overcome three deficits of 15-points or more in the same season.
Shooting at a high percentage
The Salukis shot 52.1% (25-of-48) from the floor in their win over the Northern Iowa Panthers on Feb. 5. It marked the third time this season that SIU has shot 50% or better from the field, and the tenth time during the Cindy Stein era that the Salukis have done so. SIU is 3-0 this season when making at least half of their attempts.
800 Career Points
Kylie Giebelhausen scored 19 points against Missouri State to become the 33rd Saluki to reach 800 career points. She currently has 874 points.
Coming alive in the second half
The Salukis scored 43 points in the second half of their win over Northern Iowa on Feb. 5, marking the eighth time this season that Southern has scored 40-plus points after halftime. SIU is 8-0 this season when scoring 40-plus second half points.
Streak Ended
Rishonda Napier had her streak of 20-straight games with at least one three-pointer come to an end against Bradley, as she went 0-for-1 from downtown. It marked her fewest attempts from beyond the arc since Mar. 9, 2013, when the Burbank, Calif. native also went 0--for-1 from three.
Cleaning Glass
After notching a double-double in SIU's win over Bradley, Kim Nebo now has 467 career rebounds. She's currently 27th on SIU's all-time list and is 12 rebounds from cracking the top-25. She sits at 467 career rebounds, and has an outside chance to become the 23rd Saluki to grab 500 career boards.
Double-Doubles
Kim Nebo has 11 career double-doubles, nine of which have come this season. It's the second-most double-doubles in the Valley this season.
Uncharted Territory
The Salukis have made 10-plus three-pointers in seven games this season, which included a streak of four-straight games with 10 or more. Both are school records, as SIU's seven games this season with 10-plus three-pointers is more than the previous four seasons combined. Southern has made an average of 7.4 three-pointers per game this season, well above the school record of 6.67 set last year.
During head coach Cindy Stein's 20 seasons as a head coach, her teams, on average, shoot 473.3 three-pointers, making nearly 151.6 per season. Interestingly enough, the 2015-16 Salukis made (220) and attempted (663) the most three-pointers of any Stein helmed team. The 2016-17 squad could break both marks, as they are 193-of-562 (.343) from downtown through 27 games.
