Salukis prepare to host Belmont, Murray State this weekend

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team (9-14) will return home this weekend to face Belmont (15-10) on Friday and Murray State (12-11) on Sunday at the Banterra Center.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

On Friday, SIU's game against Belmont will tip-off at 6 p.m. on ESPN3. Dominic Hoscher (play-by-play) and Mike Trude (analyst) will have the television call. The game will also be on 95.1 Steve FM with Trey Reamer on the call.
Sunday's game between the Salukis and Racers will begin at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ with Hoscher and Trude again on the mic. Reamer will have the radio call on 95.1 Steve FM.

QUICK HITS

The Salukis enter the weekend with a record of 9-14 overall and 6-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play. SIU is 4-7 while playing at the Banterra Center this season.
Southern Illinois currently sits in seventh place in the Valley with six games remaining in the regular season. UIC is the only other team to hold a 6-8 conference record.
SIU is coming off of a dominant, 83-59, road win over Bradley on Sunday. The 83 points are the most the Salukis have scored in a game since they scored 83 against the same Bradley team on Jan. 5.
Ashley Jones paced the Salukis with 24 points in the win. This was the ninth time Jones has reached the 20-point plateau this season. SIU is 5-4 when the graduate student scores at least 20 points.
Promise Taylor posted her first double-double of the season on Sunday, tallying 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Shemera Williams also scored in double-figures, putting up a 13-point performance.
SIU is 2-1 in its last three games, out-scoring the opposition by an average of 76.7-59.7 during that span. Southern's only loss was to first-place Illinois State by three points last Friday.
The Salukis are third in the MVC and 55th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 72.3 points-per-game.
SIU is fifth in the league in both field-goal percentage (.419) and three-point percentage (.335).
After Missouri State, Southern is second in the MVC in offensive rebounds-per-game (12.0).
Southern Illinois leads the conference and ranks 61st in the country in turnover margin (3.22).
The Salukis are first in the MVC in steals-per-game (10.26), which is 29th in the NCAA.
Southern is top three in the Valley in both blocks (second, 4.48) and assists (third, 14.83). The block average ranks 34th in the nation.

LEADING THE SALUKIS

Ashley Jones leads the team and is fourth in the Valley in scoring with 16.8 points-per-game. Jones has scored in double-figures in 19 of 22 games played, and in each of her last six games.
Jones is five points away from reaching 1,000 points in her collegiate career.
Promise Taylor is the conference's leader in blocks, averaging 2.7 blocks-per-game. Taylor is seventh in the nation in the category and has recorded multiple blocks in six straight games.
Taylor is also second in the MVC in field-goal percentage (.583).
Quierra Love is fifth in the Valley in assists-per-game (4.0), third in steals (2.0), and second in assist/turnover ratio (2.3). The assist/turnover ratio is 31st in the NCAA.
Laniah Randle leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.4 rebounds-per-game.

LOOKING AT BELMONT

The Bruins head into Carbondale with a record of 15-10 overall and 11-3 in MVC play.
Belmont is in fourth place and has won eight consecutive games with its last loss coming on Jan. 15 against Illinois State (70-56).
The Bruins are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 77.9-56.3 during the winning streak.
Belmont is fourth in scoring offense (69.8) and sixth in scoring defense (65.2) in the MVC.
No team in the Valley averages more three-pointers made-per-game (8.4) than the Bruins. The average is tied for 19th in the country.
Destinee Wells leads Belmont in scoring, averaging 17.0 points-per-game, which is third in the conference. Wells is also second in assists-per-game at 4.8.
Belmont leads the all-time series, 2-0, against Southern Illinois. In their last meeting on Jan. 22, the Bruins defeated the Salukis by a final score of 101-45.

LOOKING AT MURRAY STATE

The Racers are in eighth place in the conference, holding records of 12-11 overall and 5-9 in league play.
Murray State is one of three teams to have a MVC record of 5-9, with the other two being Evansville and Indiana State.
After starting the season 9-2, the Racers have gone 3-9 in their last 12 games, and are 1-7 in their last eight games.
Murray is seventh in the Valley in scoring offense (67.5) and third in scoring defense (63.4).
The Racers are second in the conference in three-point percentage (.341) and first in free throw shooting (.798). The latter ranks third in the NCAA.
Only Drake averages more assists-per-game than Murray State, who is averaging 15.52 assists-per-contest.
Katelyn Young leads the team, conference, and is 12th nationally in points-per-game (21.0). Young has scored 20-plus points in 12 games this season.
SIU is 41-5 all-time against Murray State, winning its last meeting on Jan. 20, 81-73, in Murray, Ky. Jones scored 20 points in the win.

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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Ashley Jones

Quierra Love

Laniah Randle

Promise Taylor

Shemera Williams

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