Southern Illinois University
Murray State University
Salukis host first-place Racers on Sunday
12/13/2019 | 10:39:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team returns home on Sunday to host the first place Murray State Racers (6-2) at 2 p.m. The Salukis, winners of three of their last four, will try to bounce back from their first loss in the month of December since 2017 against the Racers, who come into Sunday's contest riding a five-game winning streak.
Promotions
• Sunday is our Holiday Party game. Come get your picture taken with Santa and a prize will be given to whomever wears the best ugly Christmas sweater!
All-Time vs. Murray State
• Sunday's meeting will mark the 47th time that the two schools have met since 1968.
• SIU controls the all-time series, 41-5, and has won 23 of the last 24 meetings including all four meetings under head coach Cindy Stein.
• Stein is a perfect 7-0 in her career all-time against Murray State, with three of those wins coming during her 12-year tenure at Mizzou.
• Southern is 12-1 all-time against Murray State at home. SIU's last loss at home to the Racers came on Nov. 25, 1988.
• The last two meetings- both SIU wins- were decided by seven points or fewer.
Last Time They Met - Dec. 18, 2018 (SIU 65, Murray State 59)
• The Salukis used a strong start to the second half to defeat the Murray State Racers, 65-59 inside the CSFB Center.
• SIU trailed by as many as 12 in the first half but opened the third quarter on a 16-0 run and held Murray State to just 3-of-13 shooting in the frame.
• The Racers got to within four late in the fourth quarter but the Salukis sealed the win with a pair of Brittney Patrick free throws with less than three seconds to play. SIU made 11-of-12 from the charity stripe in the win.
• Kristen Nelson scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-4 from behind the three-point line. Makenzie Silvey, meanwhile, had 12 points in the opening half and finished with 23 points and six rebounds.
Welcome Back
• This will mark the second meeting between the Racers and the Salukis since Rechelle Turner took over as Racer head coach in 2017.
• Turner played at Murray State from 1991-94 and ran up against some of the best teams in Saluki women's basketball history.
• Turner was 0-6 versus the Salukis during her playing career.
• Turner (maiden name: Caldwell) shot 44% (11-of-25) from the field in her six career games against SIU and average)d 6.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
A Familiar Face
• SIU assistant coach Jody Adams-Birch was the head coach at Murray State during the 2007-08 season and went 24-8.
• Murray State's 24 wins under Adams remains a program record for wins in a single-season and are tied for the seventh-most in a single-season in Ohio Valley Conference history dating back to 1977.
• The Racers also won the program's first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title under Adams which culminated in the program's first, and only, NCAA Tournament appearance.
Conference RPI
• The Missouri Valley Conference has the fourth-best conference RPI, according to warrennolan.com
• The MVC currently ranks ahead of the Big 12, Big East, SEC and American Athletic Conference, among others and has six teams with top-75 RPIs.
• SIU is one of five MVC schools with a quadrant one win. St. Louis, who SIU defeated 61-53 on Nov. 27, currently sits at No. 35 in the RPI.
SIU vs. the Ohio Valley Conference
• The Salukis are 3-1 this season against Ohio Valley Conference opponents and have won six of their last seven meetings against OVC programs.
• Southern will play at least five OVC schools this season (with a potential of a sixth, EIU, depending on the results of the Compass Challenge).
• In 195 lifetime meetings against OVC schools, the Salukis sport a .728 winning percentage (142-53).
Stein vs. the OVC
• Cindy Stein is 30-13 all-time against OVC schools during her 21 seasons as a head coach.
• Stein sports a .500 or better career record against six OVC schools and a 7-0 record against Murray State.
It had been a while
• SIU went 4-0 last season in the month of December- which marked just the third perfect December in school history and first since 1987.
• Before SIU's loss at SEMO on Dec. 7- Southern had won seven-straight December games dating back to the 2017-18 season, which was tied for the second-longest streak of December wins in program history- SIU also won seven-straight December games during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons.
• Prior to SIU's loss at SEMO, Southern's last loss in the month of December came on Dec. 20, 2017- a 65-75 loss to Miami (Fla.) in Puerto Rico.
• The Salukis are 22-15 (.594) all-time in the month of December under seventh-year head coach Cindy Stein.
Getting to the basket
• Through eight games, SIU ranks second in the Valley, and 21st nationally in field goal percentage (46.2%).
• The Salukis have made at least 40-percent of their attempts from the field in all eight games this season.
• SIU shot 55% from the field in its win at Eastern Michigan- which marked the third time already this season that Southern has shot 50% or better from the floor. SIU's three games shooting 50% or higher is as many as it had during the entire 2018-19 season.
• Southern is 14-6 under seventh-year head coach Cindy Stein when making at least half of its shot attempts.
• Since 1988, SIU holds an .811% (86-20) winning percentage when shooting 50% or better.
• The Salukis won 18-straight games when shooting 50% or better from 1993 through 1997.
Upping its average
• The Salukis currently rank fourth in the Valley, and 47th in the nation, with a 75.0 points per game average.
• Southern scored 70 points in its win over UT Martin, which marked the fifth time in seven games that SIU has scored 70 or more points in a game. The Salukis scored 70-plus points in 10 games all of last season.
• Southern is doing so by ranking in the top-35 nationally in both field goal and three-point field goal percentage. SIU ranks 32nd nationally in 3-point FG percentage at 37.3-percent.
Protecting the Rock
• Southern ranks second in the Valley in fewest turnovers with 115.
• SIU's 14.4 turnovers per game are second to Loyola (12.9) in the Valley.
Points per 100 possessions
• Southern is averaging 105.0 points per 100 possessions- which is tied with Drake for the best in the Valley and is 27th-best in the nation. SIU's 105.0 points per 100 possessions average is 10 points more than last season. (95.0 points per 100 possessions).
• The Salukis are doing so thanks to a .90 points per play average- the second-best average in the MVC and 27th-best in the nation.
Guarding the perimeter
• Southern is second in the league in 3-point defense, as it is currently holding opponents to just 27% shooting from behind the arc.
• SIU is the only program in the Valley to rank in the top-3 of both 3-point field goal shooting and 3-point field goal defense.
• The Salukis have held five-straight opponents below 30% shooting from the three-point line.
Volume Scoring
• Makenzie Silvey has reached double figures in 18-straight games dating back to the end of last season.
• Silvey's streak is tied for the longest streak of double-digit scoring outputs since 2012, when Teri Oliver also reached double figures in 18-straight games.
• Silvey's streak is tied for the fourth-longest in the NCAA era in school history and if she scores 10-plus points against Murray State on Dec. 15, will be the longest streak by a Saluki since 1991.
Amy Rakers - 58-straight (1989-91)
Petra Jackson - 23-straight (1985-86)
Charr Warring - 22-straight (1983-84)
Teri Oliver - 18-straight (2011-12)
Makenzie Silvey - 18-straight (2019-20)
Leading the league
• Makenzie Silvey is averaging 19.0 points per game- which leads the Valley and ranks 34th nationally.
• The 2019 All-MVC honorable mention selection has four 20-point games this season- she totaled five 20 points games during her first two seasons.
• Silvey is just the third Saluki in program history, and first since Amy Rakers during the 1990-91 season, to record four 20-point games in the first seven games of a season.
• At SEMO, Silvey became the 29th player in program history to score 900-plus career points.
Climbing the Charts
• Nicole Martin's 1,147 career points are the 19th-most in school history. She is 53 points shy of cracking the Top-15 in program history.
Career Points, SIU history
15. Teri Oliver - 1,19919. Nicole Martin - 1,147
1000 Point Watch
• The Salukis have a pair of juniors, Makenzie Silvey and Abby Brockmeyer, who are quickly approaching the 1,000-point milestone.
• Silvey sits at 907 career points while Brockmeyer scored her 700th career point in the win over St. Louis and currently has 727 career points.
Trio of scorers
• Makenzie Silvey leads the league in scoring (19.0), while Nicole Martin (13.8) is tied for 10th and Abby Brockmeyer (12.6) ranks 15th.
• The Salukis are the only team in the Valley with three scorers ranked in the top-15.
