Southern Illinois University
University of Northern Iowa
Women's Basketball travels to Northern Iowa for Friday tilt
01/30/2019 | 2:42:00 | Women's Basketball
The Southern Illinois women's basketball team takes its two-game winning streak on the road this weekend, as they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa on Friday, Feb. 1 to take on the Northern Iowa Panthers. Tip-off against the Panthers is set for 7 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+ and can also be heard locally on MAGIC 95.1 FM.
All-Time Series vs. the Panthers
• The Salukis and the Panthers will meet for the 73rd time Friday, with UNI holding a 38-34 advantage in the all-time series after last season's split.
• The Panthers are 21-14 all-time against the Salukis on their home floor.
• SIU won 12 of the first 14 meetings between the two programs in Cedar Falls but the Panthers have since returned the favor, having won 19 of the last 21 meetings on their home floor since the 1997-98 season.
• Southern rallied from a five-point fourth quarter deficit with 3:33 to play to knock off the Panthers in overtime, 60-53 on Jan. 5, 2018.
• With last season's win, it marked SIU's second-straight home win over Northern Iowa, which was the first time since the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons that the Salukis have posted back-to-back home wins over the Panthers.
• Southern's first-ever win at the McLeod Center came on Jan. 3, 2016 - a 65-60 win.
Scouting the Panthers
• The Panthers are 12-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play. They come into Friday's showdown having won two-straight, and five of their last six games.
• UNI is 7-1 at home this season with their lone home loss coming at the hands of first-place Drake on Jan. 18, 2019.
• The Panthers rank first in the MVC, and second in the nation, in free throw percentage at 78.7%.
• Karli Rucker, the Panthers' leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, averaged 4.5 points in 11.5 minutes per game against the Salukis last season.
Current Salukis vs. the Panthers
• Nicole Martin has scored in double figures in three of her four career games against the Panthers.
• Martin is averaging 14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals in her career against UNI.
• Makenzie Silvey shot 63% (7-of-11) from the floor for 17 points in last season home win over UNI. She averaged 9.5 points on 8-of-16 shooting against the Panthers a year ago.
• Abby Brockmeyer averaged 9.0 points and 8.0 boards against the Panthers. She finished a rebound shy of a double-double in last season's home win over UNI.
Former Assistant
• UNI head coach Tanya Warren was an assistant on Cindy Stein's coaching staff at Missouri, where the two coached together from 2001-04.
• During that stretch, the Tigers made the postseason all three seasons, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament during the 2003-04 season.
• Warren was 0-1 in her playing career against SIU while at Creighton, but has fared much better since taking the reins at UNI.
• Warren, the longest tenured coach in the MVC, holds a .782% winning percentage (19-5) against the Salukis.
• Four of SIU's five wins against Warren's Panthers have come during Stein's tenure as head coach.
• Warren holds a 7-5 all-time edge against her former boss dating back to Stein's days at Missouri.
Home Sweet Home
• The Salukis improved to 8-1 inside SIU Arena this season with a pair of Valley wins over the weekend.
• Southern's eight wins at home are the most of any Valley team thus far this season.
• The Salukis have now won at least eight home games in five-straight seasons, including 10 during the 2015-16 season.
• SIU is 49-31 (.613) at home under sixth-year head coach Cindy Stein and it marks the first time in over 20 years (1993-97) that Southern has posted five-straight seasons with winning records on its home floor.
Second Half Eruption
• SIU erupted for a season-high 52 second half points on 59.3% shooting (16-of-27) in its 74-63 win over Loyola Sunday.
• Southern's 52 points were not only its most in any half this season, but also its most in a half since scoring 54 points in a win over UMKC on Dec. 19, 2016.
• Southern's 52 points were its most in a half of a Missouri Valley Conference game since scoring 53 in the second half of a 80-66 win at Wichita State on Feb. 21, 2016.
Getting to the Charity Stripe
• The Salukis shot a season-high 31 free throws in the win over Valparaiso on Friday, and followed by getting to the line 25 times in the win over Loyola.
• Southern's 31 free throw attempts were its most in a four-quarter game since Feb. 27, 2015.
• It was the third time in Coach Stein's six seasons as head coach that Southern has gotten to the charity stripe 30-plus times.
• Southern's 56 combined free throw attempts were its most in consecutive games since 2011.
Five in Double figures
• The Salukis had five players score in double figures in the win over Valparaiso, which marked the first time this season that Southern has had five players with double-digit scoring outputs.
Pair of 9s
• Brittney Patrick dished out nine assists in SIU's wins over Valparaiso and Loyola.
• Patrick is the first Saluki in nine years to record back-to-back games with nine assists. Stephany Neptune recorded nine assists at Green Bay (12/28/09) and vs. Evansville (1/2/10).
• Patrick's 18 assists were the most in consecutive games since the 2009-10 season as well. Katerina Garcia posted 20 assists in back-to-back games as she dished out 12 against Wichita State on Jan. 30, 2010 and followed with eight against Northern Iowa on Feb. 5, 2010.
Stepping it up in conference
• Nicole Martin is tied for third in the league in scoring in MVC-only games (17.6 ppg).
Boxing out on both ends of the floor
• The Salukis are averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks third in the Valley behind Bradley (15.0/game) and Missouri State (14.1/game).
• Southern's average is also a half of an offensive rebound more than last season's average of 12.6 o-boards per game.
• More importantly- SIU's opponents are grabbing fewer offensive rebounds per game this season. Southern's opponents average just 9.8 offensive rebounds per contest whereas last season opponents grabbed 12.4 offensive rebounds per game.
• Nicole Martin (2.7) and Abby Brockmeyer (2.6) rank second and third in the leauge, respectively, in offensive rebounds per game.
Top-3 in the MVC
Several Salukis rank top-3 in the league in various categories.
1st - Brittney Patrick in assists per game (2.94)
1st - Brittney Patrick in total assists (97)
1st - Brittney Patrick in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.94)
2nd - Abby Brockmeyer in total blocks (23)
2nd - Abby Brockmeyer in blocks per game (1.28)
2nd - Nicole Martin in field goals made (114)
2nd - Nicole Martin in field goal percentage (54.8)
2nd - Abby Brockmeyer in rebounds per game (8.4)
2nd - Makenzie Silvey in 3-pointers made (43)
3rd - Makenzie Silvey in 3-pointers per game (2.39)
3rd - Brittney Patrick in total steals (38)
3rd - Brittney Patrick in steals per game (2.11)
Efficient Performance
• Southern shot a season-best 54.5% (30-of-55) from the field, including a season-high 53.3% (8-of-15) from behind the arc in the win over Valparaiso.
• It was the best that SIU has shot from the field since a 64-45 win over Indiana State on Dec. 31, 2017.
• The Salukis have won eight of their last nine games when shooting 50% or better from the floor.
• Southern is 11-4 in six seasons under head coach Cindy Stein when making at least half of their attempts from the field.
20-plus assists
• SIU dished out 21 assists in the win over Valpo, which was the fourth time this season that Southern has dished out 20-plus assists.
Fewest TOs in MVC play
• Southern turned the ball over just 11 times in the win over Valparaiso- it's fewest in a MVC game this season.
Milestone Watch
• Nicole Martin is 130 points shy of becoming the 26th Saluki to score 1,000 career points.
Big Minutes off the bench
• Lauren Hartman had one of her best games of the season off the bench for the Salukis in the win over Valparaiso. She notched season-highs in minutes played (17), blocks (2) and steals (1).
Halfway to 1,000
• Abby Brockmeyer scored 13 points in the win over Loyola, which was the 10th time this season, and 26th time in her career that she has scored in double figures.
• The sophomore from Raymond, Ill. also reached the 500-point milestone in the win to become the 16th Saluki with at least 500 career points/300 rebounds/50 assists/50 blocks.
Sharpshooter
• Kristen Nelson shot 7-of-8 from the field in the win over Valparaiso, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. It is the third time this season that she has made at least three treys in a game without a miss. Southern is 3-0 in those games.
Knocking down shots
• Makenzie Silvey scored a team-high 21 points in the win over the Crusaders. It was the fourth time this season that she has scored 20-plus points, which is tied with Nicole Martin for the team lead as well as tied for the seventh-most in the MVC this season.
• She grabbed six boards in the win over Valpo- which marked the eighth time this season she has finished with six or more rebounds. She did so just twice in 31 games as a freshman.
• She also dished out career assist No. 100 against Illinois State to become the 35th Saluki with 500 career points/150 rebounds/100 assists.
• Silvey's 95 career three-pointers are four shy of cracking the top-10 in program history.
More on Patrick
• Brittney Patrick currently leads the Valley, and ranks 13th nationally, in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.94).
• SIU has only once had a player lead the league in assists per game (Cartaesha Macklin, 2013) and Patrick's 2.94 assist-to-turnover ratio would be a school record.
• She dished out nine assists in the win over Loyola to become the 22nd Saluki with 200-plus career helpers.
• Patrick surpassed her assist total from last season in the win over the Ramblers and did so with half of the turnovers. Patrick turned the ball over 68 times as a sophomore and has just 33 turnovers in 18 games this season.
RPI
• The Missouri Valley Conference currently has six teams with top-175 RPIs, according to Warrennolan.com.
• Drake leads the way at No. 14 followed by Northern Iowa (No. 77), Missouri State (No. 100), Bradley (No. 150), SIU (No. 161) and Indiana State (No. 166).
