Women's Basketball opens conference road swing at Valpo on Friday

The Southern Illinois women's basketball team hits the road to take on the Valparaiso Crusaders in Valparaiso, Ind. on Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m., inside ARC Arena. Fans can tune into WVZA 105.1 FM starting at 6:40 p.m. for game coverage, while the game can also be viewed on ESPN3.

Series History

The Salukis and the Crusaders will meet for the second time on the hardwood on Friday. Southern won the first meeting, a 74-63 win inside the SIU Arena behind a career-high 19 points from Makenzie Silvey. SIU's defense held Valpo to 1-of-7 shooting over the final 5:41 and made 9-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Valparaiso joined the MVC from the Horizon League this past summer after the departure of Wichita State.

Scouting the Crusaders

The Valparaiso Crusaders are 11-12 overall and 4-8 in MVC play. The Crusaders snapped a three-game losing streak with a 63-53 win over Loyola on Feb. 11. Valpo is 8-2 at ARC Arena this season and 3-2 in home conference games. Meredith Hamlet has led the Crusaders in scoring in five of their last six games, including 19 points in Valpo's win at Loyola.
Dani Franklin is averaging 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to lead the Crusaders, and is one of two averaging double figures. Opponents have shot 39.3% from the field against Valpo this season, and the Crusaders are eighth in league in scoring defense, giving up 68.6 points per game. The Crusaders are shooting 33.9% from three-point range, the third-best percentage in the MVC this season.

Current Salukis vs. the Crusaders

Three Salukis, Makenzie Silvey, Nicole Martin and Kristen Nelson, each reached double figures in SIU's first-ever meeting against Valpo. Silvey set career-bests in points (19), rebounds (6), defensive rebounds (5), blocked shots (1), three-pointers made (5) and three-pointers attempted (10) in the last meeting between the two programs while Martin finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes. Nelson had 10 points, two assists and two steals in 25 minutes and Kylie Giebelhausen added eight points, five boards and three assists.

Good Track Record

With SIU's 63-62 win over Bradley on Jan. 12, the Salukis improved to 9-1 against the Braves under the direction of fifth-year head coach Cindy Stein. Stein, a Peoria, Ill. native, moved to 15-1 all-time in her coaching career against the Braves. Her 15 career wins over Bradley are the most for her against a DI opponent.

Disrupting passing lanes

The Salukis tallied 12 steals against Illinois State on Feb. 9 and have recorded 10-plus steals in eight games this season. That's the most 10-plus steal games in a single season in the Cindy Stein era, and the most since the 2012-13 season when the Salukis posted eight games with 10-plus steals. The school record for most games with at least 10 steals is 20, set by the 1994-95 Salukis.

The only one

Kylie Giebelhausen is the only player in program history to record at least 1,000 points/500 rebounds/250 assists/100 steals/100 blocks. She is one of six Salukis to rank in the top-25 all-time of all five major statistical categories, as she's currently 3rd in blocks, 13th in assists, 14th in steals, 14th in points and 21st in rebounds. Giebelhausen joins Bridgett Bonds, Jayme Sweere, Angie Rougeau, Amy Rakers and Sue Faber as the only Salukis to rank in the top-25 all-time in all five statistical categories.

RPI

According to warrennolan.com, the Missouri Valley Conference has four teams with top-175 RPIs, led by Drake at 85. Missouri State is second at 109, while UNI is third at 145 and SIU is fourth at 164.

Back-to-back 20 point games

67 different Salukis have scored 20-plus points in a single game since 1982, and 29 have scored 20-plus in back-to-back games. Most recently Nicole Martin scored 24 points at Drake on Feb. 2, and followed with 22 points against UNI on Feb. 4. Amy Rakers holds the longest streak of 20-plus point games in program history, as she rattled off 10-straight games with at least 20 points to lead the Salukis to the 1990 Gateway Conference title. Rakers is second to Petra Jackson for most 20-plus point games in a career, as Jackson finished with 20-plus points in 32 games to Rakers' 31 games. Rakers, however, holds the school record for most 30-plus point games at four, of which three came during the '89-'90 season including 32 points in SIU's 71-54 win over Illinois State in the Gateway Conference title game on March 10, 1990.

SIU one of five nationally

SIU is one of 24 teams in the nation to have played at least three overtime games this season. Creighton recently tied the NCAA record, having played their sixth overtime game this season. Of the 24 teams nationally to have played in at least three overtime games, the Salukis are one of only five with an unblemished record. SIU, Albany, American University, Siena College and North Carolina are the only programs to have won at least three overtime games without recording a loss. Southern improved to 3-0 this season in overtime games and SIU's three overtime wins are it's most in a single season in program history.

Working Overtime

The Salukis defeated the Missouri State Lady Bears in overtime, 71-69 on Friday, Jan. 26. Southern improved to 3-0 this season in overtime games and SIU's three overtime wins are it's most in a single season in program history. Southern is 6-3 (.667) in overtime games under fifth-year head coach Cindy Stein and 26-18 (.590) all-time in overtime games since the 1974-75 season.

Rank in the top-3

The Salukis rank in the top-3 of the Missouri Valley Conference in both steals and blocked shots, as Southern is currently second in blocks and third in steals. SIU has never finished in the top-5 of both categories in the same season since the NCAA began recording steals and blocks during the 1987-88 season. The Salukis have only finished in the top-five of the conference in steals four times in the past 30 years, most recently when they finished third in 2007-08. Southern has finished in the top-five of the league in blocks in three of Coach Stein's four full seasons and 17 times in the past 30 years.

Sharing the load

Brittney Patrick scored a career-high 15 points in the win over Missouri State on Jan. 26 and led the Salukis in scoring for the first time in her career. She was the sixth different Saluki to lead the team in scoring this season, which are the most for SIU in a single-season since the 2013-14 season in which Southern had seven different players lead the team in scoring.

It's been a while

Tiajaney Hawkins has played in four-straight games and drained a three pointer in SIU's 62-53 win over Bradley on Feb. 11. It marked her first three-pointer since Southern's win over Brescia on Nov. 26, 2016.

500 points/300 rebounds

Nicole Martin scored the 500th point of her career in SIU's win over Bradley on Feb. 11 and now has 506 career points. The Jefferson City, Mo. native is 10 rebounds shy of 300 for her career and with those 10 boards can become the 40th Saluki in program history with at least 500 points and 300 rebounds.

Leading the Valley

Brockmeyer leads all MVC freshmen in field goal percentage (52.2%), rebounds per game (7.2) and blocks per game (1.2) while she is second in points per game (10.4). The Raymond, Ill. native ranks 16th nationally amongst freshmen in rebounds and 22nd nationally among freshmen in blocks per game.

Milestone win

Cindy Stein won the 350th game of her career with the win over Loyola on Jan. 19. Her 353 career wins are the most among active Missouri Valley Conference coaches.

Racking up weekly honors

The Salukis have now won Player of the Week twice this season and have won Newcomer of the Week four times this season. It marks the first time since the 2006-07 season that SIU has had multiple players earn Newcomer of the Week recognition during the same season.

Giebelhausen in double figures

Kylie Giebelhausen scored 13 points in the win over Bradley on Feb. 11, which marked the 12th time this season, and the 63rd time in her career, that she has reached double figures.

Hot Start

SIU has scored 21 points in the first quarter of three games this season. SIU did so vs. UT Martin on Oct. 13, at Morehead State on Nov. 30 and then again at Drake on Feb. 2.

Five Scored in double figures

The Salukis had five players score in double figures at Drake on Feb. 2, which marked the first time that Southern has accomplished that since a Dec. 30, 2016 win over Loyola.

Silvey in double figures

Makenzie Silvey scored in double figures for the 13th time in her young career in the win over Bradley. It is the seventh-most in a single-season by a freshman in program history.

Athlete Games in double figures
Cartaesha Macklin 26
Cari Hassell 21
Teri Oliver 21
Ellen Young 20
Rishonda Napier 18
Mary Berghuis 16
Makenzie Silvey 13
Meredith Jackson 12
Abby Brockmeyer 10

Double-Doubles

Abby Brockmeyer has recorded four double-doubles this season, which is tied for the third-most double-doubles by a freshman in school history. She is tied with Alexus Patterson and Bridgett Bonds, who each tallied four during their respective freshman seasons.

Tied a freshman record

Abby Brockmeyer's career-high 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting at Evansville on Dec. 29 tied the program record for points by a freshmen in a single game. Brockmeyer tied Cartaesha Macklin's school record of 27 points, set during a 77-63 win over IUPUI on Dec. 8, 2011. It marks the most points by a Saluki freshman in a Missouri Valley Conference game, and the third time a Saluki freshman has scored 20-plus points in a Valley contest. It is the 14th time in program history that a freshmen has scored 20-plus points.

Climbing the Charts: Kylie Giebelhausen

• The East Peoria, Ill. native snagged a pair of rebounds against Bradley and is one of 23 Salukis with 500-plus career rebounds. Her 534 career rebounds are good for 21st on SIU's all-time list, and she needs two rebounds to pass Kristie Abramowski for 20th.
• Giebelhausen's 1216 career points are the 14th-most in program history and the third-most among active players in the MVC. She needs three points to pass Mary Berghuis for 13th all-time, and with 12 points can pass Bridgett Bonds for 12th.
• Giebelhausen's 3895 career minutes are third to Rishonda Napier (4,138 career minutes) and Cartaesha Macklin (4088) for the most minutes played in program history.
• Giebelhausen's career average is now 33.0 minutes per game, which is slightly ahead of Rishonda Napier's school record average of 32.8 minutes per game.

Giebelhausen's 235 career three-pointers are tied with Teri Oliver for the second-most in school history. Not only are the two tied for second in school history, but they are tied with Kiersten Miller (Drake) for 16th all-time in Missouri Valley Conference history. Giebelhausen's next three-pointer will move her into a tie with Julie Rittgers (Drake) for 15th in MVC history.

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