Game Notes: Women's Basketball at Missouri State

The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team will play its first game in 18 days when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on the No. 25 Missouri State Lady Bears on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Southern last played on Jan. 8-9 at Bradley. The Salukis split with the Lady Bears a year ago, as Southern upset Missouri State at the buzzer in Carbondale on Jan. 17 for SIU's first win over a ranked opponent since 1991. The Lady Bears, however, got their revenge with an 88-57 win in Springfield on Feb. 15.

Head coach Cindy Stein met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the team's upcoming game at Missouri State. Below is a partial transcript. The full press conference can be found here.

On whether the Salukis are back to full strength:
We are not back to full strength. The pieces are coming together. We are really excited that we have at least eight so that we can play. Our kids are very anxious to play. COVID presents a lot of challenges but we just have to focus on getting better every day. You always play the hand you are dealt and we will do that and give it our best shot.

What have practices been like over the last few days?
With practice, we have tried to stay in game shape. If we have to play 5-on-2 or 5-on-3, we have just tried to implement as much of our full-court stuff as we can. We've worked a lot on fundamentals and the details, as well as taking tired shots. We've just continued to try to get better as individuals and try to do as much as we can from a team aspect. We have also tried to challenge our team as much as possible but we are definitely looking forward to a game.

On game planning for Missouri State:
With any team in our conference, we've got a good idea of what they are trying to do. Obviously, Missouri State presents a huge challenge, especially at their place. We feel good that we are able to play. With that being said, the game plan is that we have to execute our stuff. They're going to try and control the tempo, and we are going to also try to control the tempo. We've got to control what we can. We have to take care of the ball. We have to keep them off the offensive glass and take away their fast break points. There's stuff we have in place that we have to execute.

Game Notes (Full Notes are available here)

All-Time vs. Missouri State
• The Salukis and the Lady Bears meet for the 86th time in a series that dates back to the 1970-71 season.
• Southern trails the all-time series, 30-55.
• SIU defeated No. 17/19 Missouri State, 70-68 on Jan. 17, 2020 to break a three-game losing streak to the Lady Bears.
• SIU's last six wins over the Lady Bears have come at home, as Southern is seeking its first-ever win at the JQH Arena, which opened in 2008.
• The Salukis last win in Springfield came during the 2006-07 season when Missouri State played at the Hammons Student Center. The '06-07 season also marks the last time that the Salukis swept the season series from the Lady Bears.

Ranked opponent
• Southern defeated No. 17/19 Missouri State on Jan. 17 for the program's first victory over a ranked opponent since 1991.
• The Lady Bears come into Wednesday's contest once again ranked in the Top-25 (No. 25).
• This marks the first time this season, and 48th time since 1981 that the Salukis have taken on a team ranked in the Top-25.
• SIU is 8-39 all-time against foes ranked in the Top-25. SIU's last road win over a ranked opponent came in 1990.
• This is the seventh time that the Salukis have tangled with a ranked foe in the Cindy Stein-era and the fourth time it has occurred in conference play.

Closing out on shooters
* SIU currently ranks 17th nationally in opponents three-point field goal attempts per game (14.4/game). The Salukis finished top-20 (19th) a year ago after opponents averaged just 14.3 three point attempts per game.
* Southern has already held opponents to 15 or fewer three-point attempts in six of its nine games this season. SIU did so 16 times in 29 games a year ago.

Welcome to the Club
* Abby Brockmeyer scored her 1,000 career point last Saturday against Bradley to become just the 28th Saluki in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
* The senior from Raymond, Ill. is the sixth active Missouri Valley Conference player to reach the mark and is joined by her teammate Makenzie Silvey.
* The Salukis are one of 20 teams nationally, and one of only two in the Missouri Valley Conference, to have multiple active players reach the scoring milestone.

Starting a New One
• Abby Brockmeyer became just the 11th player to snag 700-plus career rebounds with her 12 boards against SEMO on Dec. 13. In SIU's win over Austin Peay on Dec. 12, she became just the fifth player in program history to record triple-digit career blocks.
• The Raymond, Ill. native could also become the first player in program history to amass 1,000 career points/700 rebounds/100 steals/100 blocks and 100 assists. She is just four steals shy of reaching that milestone.

Answering the Call
* Payton McCallister averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds and led SIU to a 2-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play when both Silvey/Brockmeyer couldn't play.
* Playing without their top two scorers due COVID-19 protocols, McCallister stepped up and set a new career-high in points in each of SIU's two wins over Evansville.
* She opened the weekend with 16 points and five steals in SIU's 59-41 win over the Aces on Friday and followed with a career-best 17 points in 19 minutes of work in Southern's 69-51 win over Evansville on Saturday.
* McCallister has now scored in double figures in five of SIU's nine games this season, which includes an active streak of four-straight games in double figures. She had reached double-digits just eight times in 59 games prior to this season.

Stretching the floor
* Rachel Pudlowski has taken on a larger role this season and is averaging more than three times the amount of minutes per game this season (17.5/game) as she did a year ago (5.8/game).
* The senior from O'Fallon, Mo. has played at least 15 minutes in four of the six games she's played in this season and has scored in double figures twice- which is once more than she had in her previous three seasons combined.
* Pudlowski has played more down low at the four this season and has found her niche offensively playing closer to the basket. She is currently shooting 53.3-percent (16-30) from the floor, which is almost 20-percent higher (34-percent) then what her career field goal percentage was entering the 2020-21 season. She has also set or tied career-bests in eight of the 14 categories that are tracked this season.

Guarding the Rock
• The Salukis turned the ball over a season-low six times in the win over Kansas City on Dec. 17. It was the fewest turnovers for Southern since its 66-41 win over Evansville on March 3, 2018 in which SIU turned the ball over just four times.
* SIU's six turnovers against KC are tied for the 16th fewest in a NCAA DI game this season.
* Southern also turned the ball over just nine times against Bradley on Jan. 9 - which marked the third time already this season that SIU has turned the ball over less than 10 times.
• Southern ranks 27th nationally, and first in the MVC, in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.23). SIU's 12.7 turnovers per game ranks second in the Valley and 23rd nationally.
• Payton McCallister ranks third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.25).

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Abby Brockmeyer

Payton McCallister

Rachel Pudlowski

Makenzie Silvey

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