Women's Basketball to host McKendree in lone exhibition
11/03/2022 | 11:55:00 | Women's Basketball
The Southern Illinois Women's Basketball team plays its lone exhibition game at 2 p.m. Saturday against McKendree University inside the Banterra Center.Â
The Salukis will have a new coach on the sideline this season for the first time in almost a decade as Kelly Bond-White takes over for Cindy Stein, who led SIU to their first Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season title since 2007. Bond-White isn't the only new face for SIU this season as she and her new staff had to rebuild a roster that not only won last season's regular-season crown but also included the MVC Player of the Year in Abby Brockmeyer and Southern's all-time leading scorer in Makenzie Silvey.Â
The Salukis return seven players from last year's roster, including Quierra Love (5.6 ppg) and Laniah Randle (3.1 ppg), along with this year's unanimous team captain Adrianna Katcher. Tyranny Brown, Paige Clubb, Sydney Prochaska and Zoe Belcher also return for Southern.Â
To replenish the roster, Bond-White hit the transfer portal and it delivered in a big way for the Salukis. SIU added six transfers and one true freshman in Jaidynn Mason.Â
Promise Taylor (6-5 center), Tamara Nard (6-2 forward), Ashley Jones (5-7 guard), Seairra Hughes (6-0 forward), Aja Holmes (5-9 guard) and Shemera Williams (5-8 guard) all call Carbondale home now. Washington, Mississippi State, Houston, Texas Christian and Southern California were all former landing spots for Bond-White's transfers.Â
Bond-White has said throughout the offseason that each transfer, along with Mason, could make an impact for SIU this season. Â
McKendree went 3-23 last season and was picked 12th in this season's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Preseason Poll. The Bearcats fell 71-60 in an exhibition against Bradley on Thursday where they were led by Clare Breden (14 points, 5 rebounds), Naomi McDaniel (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Christy Fortune (13 points on 3-6 from long range).
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_WBasketball, on Instagram at @SIU_WBasketball and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
