Friday, November 2
Carbondale, Ill.
6 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
118
vs
38
Westminster College (MO)
1
2
3
4
F
Westminster (MO)
8
12
9
9
38
Southern Illinois
32
24
30
32
118
Photo by: Katie O'Brien
Women’s Basketball posts 80-point exhibition win over Westminster
11/02/2018 | 9:13:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois women's basketball team breezed to an 80-point exhibition win on Friday night over Westminster (Mo.), 118-38, in the team's second and final tuneup before opening the season at UT Martin next Friday.
The Salukis sprinted to a double-digit lead midway through the first period and never looked back. They dominated the first half, 56-20, and turned it up a notch in the second half to outscore the Bluejays, 62-18. Eleven different players scored for Southern, including six in double figures, led by freshman Caitlin Link (19 points) and sophomore Makenzie Silvey (18 points).
SIU head coach Cindy Stein said she was impressed by her team's ability to stay focused for 40 minutes.
"When we jumped on them, our kids stayed engaged the entire game," Stein said. "I've had a lot teams get big leads, and they get lazy and sloppy and the bench is talking to each other and they're not engaged in the game. I think it's a sign of maturity and how much they care for each other (that they stayed engaged)."
A Division III school located in Fulton, Mo., Westminster committed 35 turnovers in the contest that led to 51 points for the Salukis. Southern's superior size, speed and athleticism generated 25 steals and a 30-0 advantage in fast-break points.
"The two things we wanted to do was set the tone defensively and stay after it, and we wanted to run the ball hard on offense and defense, and I felt like we did those things," Stein explained.
Nine different players had at least two steals for Southern, including four each by Link and Kristen Nelson, making it difficult for the bluejays to execute their offense in the half court.
"We need to do that against each other more in practice," Stein said. "That's something we haven't done consistently. I think we gained confidence that we can get out and pressure a little bit more."
Freshmen have led the team in scoring in both of Southern's exhibition games this season, with Payton McCallister following up last week's 20-point outing against McKendree with a 10-point, five-rebound, five-assist game in a starting assignment tonight.
"We knew just based off seeing them play during the summer that (Link and McCallister) would be really good additions to our team," said Silvey. "I think it's important for all of us who already have experience to get them going and get them comfortable with the system. They've been doing a good job of stepping up and knocking down their shots and they've been playing good defense, which has led to a lot of easy points."
Stein used the blowout to experiment a bit with lineups, playing forward Abby Brockmeyer on the wing at times, and giving extended minutes to reserves such as Kezia Martin. She said both Link and McCallister will play key roles during the regular season.
"They're two of our hardest workers on the team, they're very fundamentally sound, they've both been extremely well coached coming in here," Stein said. "I won't hesitate putting them into any situation."
After next week's game at UT Martin, Southern returns for its home opener at noon versus SEMO on Nov. 14.
The Salukis sprinted to a double-digit lead midway through the first period and never looked back. They dominated the first half, 56-20, and turned it up a notch in the second half to outscore the Bluejays, 62-18. Eleven different players scored for Southern, including six in double figures, led by freshman Caitlin Link (19 points) and sophomore Makenzie Silvey (18 points).
SIU head coach Cindy Stein said she was impressed by her team's ability to stay focused for 40 minutes.
"When we jumped on them, our kids stayed engaged the entire game," Stein said. "I've had a lot teams get big leads, and they get lazy and sloppy and the bench is talking to each other and they're not engaged in the game. I think it's a sign of maturity and how much they care for each other (that they stayed engaged)."
A Division III school located in Fulton, Mo., Westminster committed 35 turnovers in the contest that led to 51 points for the Salukis. Southern's superior size, speed and athleticism generated 25 steals and a 30-0 advantage in fast-break points.
"The two things we wanted to do was set the tone defensively and stay after it, and we wanted to run the ball hard on offense and defense, and I felt like we did those things," Stein explained.
Nine different players had at least two steals for Southern, including four each by Link and Kristen Nelson, making it difficult for the bluejays to execute their offense in the half court.
"We need to do that against each other more in practice," Stein said. "That's something we haven't done consistently. I think we gained confidence that we can get out and pressure a little bit more."
Freshmen have led the team in scoring in both of Southern's exhibition games this season, with Payton McCallister following up last week's 20-point outing against McKendree with a 10-point, five-rebound, five-assist game in a starting assignment tonight.
"We knew just based off seeing them play during the summer that (Link and McCallister) would be really good additions to our team," said Silvey. "I think it's important for all of us who already have experience to get them going and get them comfortable with the system. They've been doing a good job of stepping up and knocking down their shots and they've been playing good defense, which has led to a lot of easy points."
Stein used the blowout to experiment a bit with lineups, playing forward Abby Brockmeyer on the wing at times, and giving extended minutes to reserves such as Kezia Martin. She said both Link and McCallister will play key roles during the regular season.
"They're two of our hardest workers on the team, they're very fundamentally sound, they've both been extremely well coached coming in here," Stein said. "I won't hesitate putting them into any situation."
After next week's game at UT Martin, Southern returns for its home opener at noon versus SEMO on Nov. 14.
Team Stats
WES
SIU
FG%
.268
.623
3FG%
.185
.476
FT%
.429
.629
RB
27
48
TO
35
13
STL
6
25
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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