Salukis host No. 23 Bulldogs on Friday
02/27/2019 | 1:21:00 | Women's Basketball
It will be the second time this season that SIU has faced a ranked foe.
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team opens its final homestand of the 2019 season against No. 23 Drake on Friday, Mar. 1 at 6 p.m. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ and can be heard locally on MAGIC 95.1 FM.
Promotions
• Friday night is a maroon out! Wear maroon and come cheer on your Salukis. It is also Southern's Rolla-Banna giveaway, so get to the game early to get yours!
All-Time Series vs. Drake
• The Salukis and the Bulldogs will meet for the 88th time Friday.
• Drake leads the all-time series 59-28.
• The Bulldogs have won seven-straight in the series and 11 of the last 13.
• Four of SIU's last five wins in the series have come on its home floor, including Southern's last win over Drake - a 81-76 win on Feb. 6, 2015.
Scouting the Bulldogs
• The Bulldogs are 21-5 overall and 13-1 in MVC play. Drake has won six-straight since having its 47-game conference win streak snapped on Feb. 1 in an 85-79 loss to the Missouri State Lady Bears.
• Drake comes into Friday's contest ranked No. 23 in the most recent AP Top-25 poll. They are second in the nation in assists per game (22.1) and are fourth in total assists at 575. The Bulldogs also rank eighth nationally in scoring offense (81.1 pts/game) and 11th nationally in field goal percentage (47.7%).
• Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine are currently 1-2 in the MVC in scoring at 19.8 and 19.3 points per game, respectively. Hittner went for 30 points against the Salukis earlier this season, while Rhine finished with 25 points and 11 boards.
Current Salukis vs. the Bulldogs
• Nicole Martin is averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in six career meetings against the Bulldogs. Martin fouled out for the first, and only, time this season at Drake on Feb. 3 and finished with nine points and two boards in 19 minutes.
• Makenzie Silvey is averaging 12.8 points in four career meetings against Drake and has reached double figures in three of her four career games against the defending MVC Champs. She finished with 6 points, five assists and four steals in 35 minutes at Drake on Feb. 3.
• Abby Brockmeyer is averaging 9.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in her four career games against the Bulldogs. She finished just shy of a double-double the last time the two teams met- she had 9 points/9 boards at Drake on Feb. 3.
• Payton McCallister scored in double figures for the fifth time this season at Drake on Feb. 3- she tallied a team-high 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Salukis vs. Ranked Opponents
• This marks the second time this season, and 45th time since 1981-82 that the Salukis have taken on a team ranked in the Top-25.
• SIU is 7-37 all-time against foes ranked in the Top-25.
• Southern's last win over a ranked opponent came on a neutral floor- an 81-64 win over North Carolina State at the Stanford Classic on Dec. 19, 1991.
• This will be the 15th time that SIU has hosted a ranked opponent and the first time since 2009. SIU lost to No. 22 Vanderbilt, 90-64 on Nov. 18, 2009.
• Southern is 4-10 all-time at home vs. ranked opponents.
• SIU's last home win vs. a ranked opponent came on Dec. 19, 1987- a 76-58 win over No. 11 Western Kentucky inside Davies Gym.
• This is the fourth time that the Salukis have tangled with a ranked foe in the Cindy Stein-era and the first time its occurred in conference play.
• SIU spent 14-straight weeks ranked in the top-20 during the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons, rising as high as No. 13. A loss at Illinois on Dec. 9, 1988 pushed the Salukis out of the top-20.
Two-straight road wins
• The Salukis won back-to-back road games for the first time this season with wins at Loyola and Valparaiso last weekend.
Last Time vs. Drake
• The Salukis trailed by nine at the half and were within striking distance, but the Bulldogs outscored the visitors, 22-9 in the third quarter to build a 22-point advantage it never surrendered.
• The Bulldogs dished out 22 assists on 30 field goals. The back-to-back MVC Champions also shot 61.2% (30-of-49) from the field and turned 17 Saluki turnovers into 19 points.
• Drake got to the charity stripe 36 times, which included 27 makes- both of which are the most SIU has surrendered this season.
• The Salukis were led by Payton McCallister, who tallied 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.
Shooting better from outside
• The Salukis are shooting 32.4% from three-point range this season, a number that has risen significantly thanks to SIU's improved shooting from deep over its last three games.
• In Southern's last three games, the Salukis are shooting 43.5% (27-of-62) from three, a stretch that included SIU's most treys in a game in nearly two months.
• The Salukis drained 10 threes in the win over Loyola- its most in a game in over two months. Southern last sank 10-plus threes in the 82-73 win over Northern Illinois on Dec. 8, 2018.
• It marked the third time this season that SIU has made 10 or more threes in a game and the first time they have done so in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Leading the way
• Nicole Martin recorded her sixth double-double of the season, and eighth of her career, in the win at Loyola in a game in which she set new career-highs with 16 rebounds and 12 defensive boards.
• Martin inched closer to becoming the seventh-active Missouri Valley Conference player to join the 1,000 career points club.
• She sits at 958 career points and would become the 26th Saluki to reach 1,000 career points and just the ninth to do so during their junior season.
Shooters gonna shoot
• Makenzie Silvey scored a team-high 16 points to reach double figures for the fifth-straight game in the win over Valparaiso.
• It marked the 22nd time this season, and 38th time in her career, that she has reached double figures.
• Her three three-pointers in the win moved her into seventh on SIU's all-time list and her 60 three-pointers this season are the fourth-most by a sophomore in program history. She needs just two more treys to move into the top-3.
• Silvey is 15 points shy of 700 for her career and currently has the 10th-most points (362) by a sophomore in program history. With 11 points over the weekend, Silvey will pass Nicole Martin (372) for 7th.
• Silvey's streak of 14-straight games with a steal came to end in the win over Valparaiso on Feb. 24.
Second Quarter Defense
• Southern held Valparaiso to just five second quarter points and 7% (1-for-14) shooting in the frame during SIU's 58-47 win on Sunday.
• It marked the second-straight game in which Southern has held its opponent to just five points in the second quarter and the seventh time this season that the Salukis have held an opponent to five points or less in a quarter.
• The Salukis also held the Crusaders to just 17 first half points- their fewest points allowed in a half since allowing just 16 at Illinois State on Feb. 9, 2018.
• In the win over Loyola, Southern allowed the fewest points it has allowed in consecutive quarters (10) since the quarter system was instituted prior to the 2015-16 season.
• SIU is 10-0 all-time when holding an opponent to less than five points in any quarter.
Linking up
• Caitlin Link tied her career-highs in points (8), steals (1), field goals made (3), free throws made (2) and free throws attempted (2) in the win over Loyola.
• Link has started four-straight games since returning from injury.
Getting Up there
• Brittney Patrick finished with three points, three boards, three steals and eight assists in the win over Valparaiso on Feb. 22.
• It was the second-straight game that Patrick has dished out eight assists.
• It marked the fifth time this season that Patrick has handed out eight-plus assists.
• SIU is 5-0 this season when Patrick dishes out eight or more assists.
• Patrick has handed out five-plus assists in more than one-half (13-of-25) of SIU's games this season.
Double-Doubles
• Nicole Martin recorded her sixth double-double of the season at Loyola, which is second on the team to Abby Brockmeyer's 7 double-doubles.
• It marks just the third time in program history (dating back to 1979) that two or more Salukis have had 6-plus double-doubles in the same season and the first time in four years.
• Sue Faber (11), Char Warring (8) and Connie Price (8) accomplished the feat first during the 1981-82 season and Dyana Pierre (16) and Azia Washington (6) most recently did so during the 2014-15 season.
