Game Notes: Women's Basketball at Bradley

The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team travels to Peoria, Ill. for its first conference road swing of the season against the Bradley Braves. The Salukis and the Braves will tip-off at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 4 p.m. tip on Saturday. SIU is coming off back-to-back wins over Evansville while the Braves split a pair at Drake last weekend. Southern has won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two programs, but Bradley was victorious the last time the two sides met- a 61-57 win inside Renassiance Coliseum on Feb. 27, 2020. Both contests can be heard locally on Magic 95.1 FM and can be streamed on ESPN+.

All-Time Series vs. Bradley

• The Salukis and the Braves will meet for the 80th time in a rivalry that dates back to 1983.
• Southern leads the all-time series, 53-26.
• SIU won 27-straight games against Bradley to open the rivalry, which, at the time, was the fourth-longest winning streak against one team in the nation.
• The Braves returned the favor winning 22 of the next 27 games.
• Southern has won 10 of the last 12 meetings against Bradley, including a 64-50 win inside Banterra Center on Feb. 2.
• Bradley won the most recent meeting - a 61-57 win in Peoria, Ill. on Feb. 27, 2020.

Last meeting between the two:

The Salukis had a chance to take the lead with :24 seconds to play despite trailing by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, but were unable to convert as they fell to the Bradley Braves, 61-57 inside Renaissance Coliseum.
The Braves used a 16-1 run over a six-minute stretch to take a 52-35 lead with 8:51 remaining in regulation.
Just as it began to look as though the game had gotten away from SIU, the Salukis began a furious comeback in which they outscored Bradley, 22-5 over the next 8:27 to tie the contest at 57-all.
After Kris Nelson's three-pointer tied the contest, Bradley drew a foul and Chelsea Brackmann made one of two to give the Braves a 58-57 lead. Southern had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but a costly turnover coupled with three-straight Bradley free throws sealed the win for the home team.
The Salukis finished with 13 steals in the contest to set a NCAA era school-record for most consecutive games with double-digit takeaways. Southern's seven-straight games with 10-plus steals surpasses the previous best of six, set by the 1994-95 Salukis.

Nice to see you again

• Andrea Gorski spent three seasons, from 2013-16, as SIU's associate head coach under Cindy Stein.
• She was part of the largest single-season turnaround in program history, as well as SIU's first postseason appearance since 2007.
• As a player, Gorski was winless (0-9) against the Salukis, as she ran up against some of the best teams in Saluki history, which included the 1991-92 Salukis that won the program's second-ever NCAA Tournament game.
• Gorski notched her second career coaching win over the Salukis in Bradley's 61-57 win in Peoria last season.

Peoria's finest

• Cindy Stein, who was inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame last season in honor of her prep career at Peoria Richwoods, is 17-3 all-time vs. the Braves, including 11-3 while at SIU.
• Stein was an assistant coach at Bradley from 1988-93.

Answering the Call

Payton McCallister averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in leading SIU to a 2-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference 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.
It marked just the third time in her career that the junior from Columbia, Mo. has reached double figures in back-to-back games.
McCallister is already half way (204) to her minutes total through 29 games a year ago (401).

Stretching the floor

Rachel Pudlowski averaged 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 19 minutes a game in SIU's wins over Evansville.
The senior from O'Fallon, Mo. has played at least 15 minutes in three of the four 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 61.9-percent (13-21) from the floor, which is almost double (34-percent) 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.

Taking on a bigger role

Allea Potter set or tied her career-highs in points (6), rebounds (2), assists (2), field goals made (2), three-pointers made (2) and minutes played (21) in the win over Evansville on Jan. 2.
Potter has already played in as many games this season as she did during her entire freshman campaign and has played more than five times the minutes than she did in seven games as a freshman.

More from Evansville wins:

The Salukis were one of two MVC teams to sweep the opening weekend of conference play, as they defeated Evansville, 59-41, on Friday and followed with a 69-51 victory over the Aces on Saturday.
Southern's win Friday improved the Salukis to 8-0 in conference openers under eighth-year head coach Cindy Stein, while Southern's win Saturday clinched SIU its first 2-0 start to Valley play since 2018.
The Salukis held Evansville, then the nation's fourth-best three-point shooting team coming into the weekend, to a season-low 16.7-percent (2-of-12) shooting from behind the arc on Saturday, and to just four three-pointers on 17.3-percent shooting for the weekend.
Caitlin Link had one of the most productive weekends of her Saluki career- she set and/or tied her career-bests in 11 of 14 categories including points (11), rebounds (8) and assists (5).
Both Link and Gabby Walker just missed double-doubles in SIU's win over Evansville on Jan. 2- Link was two boards shy while Walker was two points shy. Both tied for the team lead with five assists in the victory.

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 10th fewest in a NCAA DI game this season.
• Southern also turned the ball over just seven times in its win over Evansville on Jan. 2- which marked the second time already this season that SIU has turned the ball over less than 10 times.
• Southern ranks 25th nationally, and first in the MVC, in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.29). SIU's 12.9 turnovers per game ranks second in the Valley and 31st nationally.
• Payton McCallister ranks second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.20).

Katcher named MVC Newcomer of the Week

Adrianna Katcher averaged 8.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in a pair of Missouri Valley Conference wins over the weekend.
Katcher scored six points and grabbed a career-high 14 boards, of which eight came on the offensive glass in SIU's 59-41 win on Friday.
The freshman from Urbana, Iowa also held 2020 MVC Freshman of the Year Abby Feit to a career-low four points on 2-of-8 shooting and tallied the most rebounds in a game by a Saluki freshman since 2017.
Katcher followed with a career-high 11 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and three assists in Southern's 69-51 win over Evansville on Saturday.
Katcher leads all Valley freshmen, and is tied for sixth nationally among freshmen, with her 8.3 rebounds per game average.

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Players Mentioned

Adrianna Katcher

Caitlin Link

Payton McCallister

Allea Potter

Rachel Pudlowski

Gabby Walker

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