Salukis Host Cornell on Saturday at the Banterra Center

CARBONDALE, Ill. - After a rivalry win over SEMO on Tuesday, the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team (1-0) is set to host Cornell University on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Banterra Center.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

Southern Illinois' game against Cornell can be watched on ESPN+ on Saturday. Dominic Hoscher (play-by-play) and Rodney Watson (analyst) will be on the call.
The Saturday contest will also be on 95.1 Steve FM with Larry Larson doing the broadcasting duties.

QUICK HITS

Southern Illinois had a 12-19 overall record and a 8-12 record in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2022-23.
Southern opened the year with a 85-70 win over SEMO on Tuesday. The Salukis out-scored the Redhawks, 48-29 in the second half. As a team, SIU shot 48.4% from the field and 52.9% from deep.
Five Salukis scored in double-figures in the win, with Quierra Love and Shemera Williams leading the way with 16 each. Jaidynn Mason (13), Laniah Randle (12), and Seairra Hughes (11) were the other three.
Southern was powered by an explosive offense one year ago, ranking third in the Valley with 73.4 points-per-game. The average ranked 44th in the nation.
On the defensive end, Southern Illinois led the MVC in steals-per-game (9.90) and were second in blocks-per-game (4.81). The Salukis were 27th in the NCAA in steals, and 21st in blocks.
SIU returns three starters (Quierra Love, Shemera Williams, Laniah Randle) from a year ago. Overall, Southern has nine returners and four newcomers.
Three of SIU's newcomers are freshmen (Tkiyah Nelson, Maddy Saracco, Angela Samuel), while its fourth is a transfer (Se'Quoia Allmond). Allmond comes to SIU after spending the last two seasons at Loyola Marymount University.

LEADING THE SALUKIS

Shemera Williams is the team's leading returning scorer from last season, averaging 10.8 points-per-game in 2022-23. Williams is in her second season at SIU after previously being at USC and Virginia.
Quierra Love returns for her fourth season as a Saluki. Last year, Love was named to the MVC All-Defensive team after averaging 2.0 steals-per-game. The veteran guard also was second on the Salukis in assists (3.9 per game).
Jaidynn Mason was named to the MVC All-Freshmen team in 2022-23, averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 steals in 31 games played.
Laniah Randle, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds in SIU's exhibition against Greenville last week, led Southern in rebounding last season, averaging 6.5 boards-per-game.
The Salukis' roster is made up of four seniors, five juniors, one sophomore, and three freshmen. SIU's four seniors are Williams, Love, Adrianna Katcher, and Sydney Prochaska.

LOOKING AT CORNELL

The Big Red fell in its season-opener to Colgate, 71-60, on Tuesday. Kaya Ingram led Cornell with 15 points in the loss.
In the Ivy League preseason poll, Cornell was picked to finish seventh after a 10-17 season one year ago.
Sophomore Emily Pape led the Big Red in scoring (11.2 points-per-game) as a freshman last season.
Cornell lost three seniors from 2022-23 who were either the team's leader or runner-up in points, points-per-game, minutes played, offensive rebounds, assists, and other categories.
The Big Red is led by Dayna Smith, who is in her 21st year as the program's head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

This is the first meeting all-time between the two programs.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
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.

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Players Mentioned

Se'Quoia Allmond

Seairra Hughes

Adrianna Katcher

Quierra Love

Jaidynn Mason

Tkiyah Nelson

Sydney Prochaska

Laniah Randle

Angela Samuel

Maddy Saracco

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