Salukis close out regular season at Evansville on Saturday

Saturday, March 9

Evansville, IN

1 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

University of Evansville

Photo by: Will Becque

03/08/2019 | 1:05:00 | Women's Basketball

At Evansville Game Notes

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Saluki women's basketball team will close out the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday at Evansville. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and the contest can be viewed be heard locally on MAGIC 95.1 FM and can be streamed on ESPN+.

All-time vs. the Purple Aces

• The Salukis and the Purple Aces will meet for the 60th time Saturday in a series that dates back to 1984.
• Southern has won three-straight, and six of the last eight, against Evansville and leads the all-time series, 31-28.
• Evansville's last win in the series was on Feb. 17, 2017- a 74-61 win inside the SIU Arena.

Current Salukis vs. the Purple Aces

• Abby Brockmeyer is averaging 16.0 points on 57.1% (20-of-35) shooting to go along with 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals against Evansville in three previous meetings. She recorded double-doubles in both games against the Purple Aces last season and has scored in double figures in all three of her career games against Evansville.
• Brockmeyer tied the Saluki freshman single-game scoring record at Evansville a year ago, as she finished with a career-high 27 points to tie Cartaesha Macklin's 2011 school record.
• Nicole Martin is averaging 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in five career meetings against Evansville. Martin had one of her six double-doubles this season in the first meeting between the two teams as she finished with 23 points and 12 boards.
• Makenzie Silvey scored 17 points to go along with six boards and three assists in SIU's 67-47 win over

Last Time They Met

Salukis 67, Purple Aces 47 | Jan. 4, 2019

• The Salukis put three players in double-figures, shot 64 percent from the field in the first half and dominated the boards to overpower Evansville, 67-47.
• It was a wire-to-wire win for Southern, who opened the game on a 10-2 run.
• Nicole Martin was nearly perfect from the field. The Preseason All-MVC selection converted on her first 11 attempts from the field and didn't miss until her final shot with 2:45 remaining in the contest.
• Martin's 91.7% field goal percentage in the win remains the 12th-best FG% in a NCAA Division I game this season.
• Southern out-rebounded Evansville, 43-to-24. SIU's +19 rebounding margin remains a season-high and included 14 offensive boards.

History as the No. 6 seed at MVC

• With the win over Indiana State, Southern clinched the sixth seed at next weekend's conference tournament and will take on No. 3 Northern Iowa on Friday, Mar. 15 at 8:30 p.m.
• This marks the first time that the Salukis have earned the sixth seed in the conference tournament dating back to 1987.
• It is the fifth-straight season that Southern has finished in the top-six to avoid having to play on the tournament's opening night.

Martin reaches 1,000 career points

• Nicole Martin scored her 1,000 career point in the win over Indiana State and sits at 1,007 career points.
• She is the 26th Saluki in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
• She is just the eighth Saluki to reach 1,000 as a junior. She joins a prestigious list of former Salukis that includes: Dyana Pierre, Cartaesha Macklin, Rishonda Napier, Char Warring, Sue Faber, Amy Rakers and D.D. Plab.
• She is joins Kerri Gasper (Evansville), Ellie Howell (UNI), Meredith Hamlet (Valparaiso), Becca Hittner (Drake), Maddy Dean (Drake), and Sara Rhine (Drake) as the only active Missouri Valley Conference players with 1,000 career points.

Conference Tournament History

• The Salukis are 18-24 all-time in the conference tournament and last won it all in 1989-90, defeating Illinois State, 71-54 behind Tournament MVP Amy Rakers.
• Southern's win over Indiana State in the 2018 MVC Tournament quarterfinals made it the second time in the last three seasons that SIU has advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals.
• SIU's last MVC Tournament semifinal win came during the 1992-93 season when the Salukis defeated Creighton, 71-69 in overtime to advance to the championship game.

RPI

• The Missouri Valley Conference has six teams with Top-165 RPIs, according to warrennolan.com.
• Drake sits at No. 22, while Missouri State is No. 65. UNI is No. 87, while Bradley (No. 156), SIU (No. 160), and Illinois State (No. 161) are all in the Top-165.

Winning the Boards

• The Salukis have won the battle of the boards in five-straight games, their second-longest streak of the season.
• Southern has out-rebounded foes by an average of 13.4 rebounds during the stretch, which included a +19 rebounding margin against Evansville on Thursday.
• Two Salukis, Abby Brockmeyer (3rd, 8.1/game) and Nicole Martin (6th, 7.3/game) rank in the top-10 in the league in rebounding.