Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Loyola
Salukis close out regular season at Loyola on Saturday
03/03/2017 | 1:32:00 | Women's Basketball
Southern has clinched a top-5 seed in the MVC Tournament and its third-straight winning season.
CHICAGO -- The Saluki women's basketball team will close out the 2016-17 regular season on Saturday at Loyola. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the contest can be viewed on ESPN3.
All-Time vs. the Ramblers
The Salukis and the Ramblers will meet for the 13th time in a rivalry that dates back to 1982. SIU evened the series, 6-6 earlier this season with a 73-57 win and will look to sweep the series for the second time in three years.
Current Salukis vs. the Ramblers
Kylie Giebelhausen comes into Saturday's contest shooting 44.6% (21-of-47) from the floor in six career games against Loyola, including 38.7% (12-of-31) from downtown. The East Peoria, Ill. native also averages 9.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game against the Ramblers while Rishonda Napier is averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 assists per game in seven career meetings against Loyola.
Winning Record
With the win over Indiana State on Thursday, the Salukis clinch a winning regular season record. It marks the third straight season in which they have done so, and the first time it has happened at SIU since the 1994-97 seasons.
Top-5 seed in conference tourney
With the regular season coming to a close, the Salukis have earned a top-5 seed for next week's MVC Tournament. This will mark the third-straight season in which the Salukis have been seeded in the top-five, and marks the first time since 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons that SIU has done so in three-straight seasons. Southern will likely face Wichita State in the first round of the MVC Tournament, who they hold a 1-0 record against in tournament play. The Salukis beat the Shockers, 83-65 in the first round of the 1995-96 MVC Tournament.
900 Career Points
Kylie Giebelhausen scored 26 points to lead the Salukis to a 70-66 win over Indiana State on March 2. She became the 27th Saluki to reach 900 career points.Â
Next Field Goal is her 600th
With her next field goal Rishonda Napier will become the sixth Saluki to make 600 field goals in a career. She can move past Char Warring for fifth on SIU's all-time list with four made field goals.
Leaving her mark
Napier can crack the top-10 in school history in yet another category on Saturday, as she needs to make two free throws to pass Theia Hudson for 10th on SIU's all-time made free throws list. With three, the Burbank, Calif. native can pass Kelly Firth for ninth. Napier has made 237 free throws in her career and her .849 free throw percentage is the best in school history.
Next block passes Kampwerth
Kylie Giebelhausen recorded three blocks in SIU's win over Indiana State on March 2. It marked the 14th time in her career that she recorded 3-plus blocks in a single game, and moves her into a tie with Cathy Kampwerth for third on SIU's all-time list.
Holding them in check
The Salukis allowed the Indiana State Sycamores to score just 17 first half points. It was the fewest points allowed in a first half by the Salukis in the Cindy Stein era, and the fewest since SIU held the Sycamores to just 14 points at the SIU Arena on Jan. 29, 2011.
Dialed in from long distance
The Salukis made 70.6% (12-of-17) from three-point range in the win over Indiana State on March 2. It's the best SIU has shot from three-point range (minimum 15 attempts) since at least the 1988-89 season. The Salukis twice shot 11-for-16 (68.8%) from beyond the arc, doing so against Missouri State on Jan. 26, 1997 and then again at Drake on Feb. 19, 2006.
