Salukis to take on Indiana State in first round of Hoops in the Heartland

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The seventh seeded Southern Illinois University women's basketball team (11-18, 8-12 MVC) will open up Hoops in the Heartland on Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT against 10th seeded Indiana State in Moline, Ill.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

The first round matchup will be televised on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. CT, with Scott Warmann (play-by-play) and Laura Leonard (analyst) on the call.
To listen, tune in to 95.1 Steve FM, where Trey Reamer will be calling the action from Moline.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

The winner of Thursday night's contest between the Salukis and Sycamores will advance to the second round to face second seeded Belmont on Friday at 6 p.m.
If the Salukis were to make it to the semi finals, they would play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. against either Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, or UIC.
The championship game will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.

QUICK HITS

Southern Illinois finished the regular season with a record of 11-18 overall and 8-12 in Valley play. SIU enters the tournament after a pair of losses to Northern Iowa and Drake on the road.
In Saturday's game against the Bulldogs, Promise Taylor broke the program's single-season block record after tallying her 83rd block of the year. Taylor breaks CiCi Shannon's record of 82 blocks in a season, which was set in 2011.
As a team, SIU is 16 blocks away from setting a single-season program record. The Salukis currently have 139 blocks on the year, and the record was set in 2010-11 when the team had 155 total blocks.
The Salukis are looking to advance to the second round of the conference tournament for the third consecutive season. In each of the past two years, SIU has defeated Indiana State in its opening matchup of the tournament, with last season's win coming in the second round after earning a first round bye.
SIU was third in the MVC in scoring offense over the course of the regular season, averaging 73.4 points-per-game. Only Drake and UNI averaged more on a game-by-game basis in the league. The Salukis are tied for 44th in the nation in the category with Middle Tennessee State and Kansas.
The 73.4 points are the most the program has averaged in over 20 years.
Southern was top five in the conference in both field-goal percentage (.429, fourth) and three-point percentage (.336, fifth) in 2022-23.
Only Missouri State averaged more offensive rebounds-per-game than SIU (11.9) in the MVC.
SIU's turnover margin of 3.00 was the best in the Valley, and ranked 62nd nationally. This is the program's strongest margin since 2019-20, when SIU had a turnover margin of 3.3.
Southern Illinois was top three in the MVC in steals-per-game (9.66, first), blocks-per-game (4.79, second), and assists-per-game (15.48, second) throughout the season. The steals average ranks 40th nationally, while the blocks average was the 20th best in the country. In terms of assists, Southern was 47th in the NCAA.

LEADING THE SALUKIS

Ashley Jones finished the regular season as the fourth-highest scorer in the Valley with 17.4 points-per-game. Jones has had at least 20 points in four consecutive games, and in 13 total games this year.
Jones is also top 10 in the MVC in free throw percentage (.783, 10th), three-pointers made-per-game (2.0, tied for sixth), three-point percentage (.358, ninth), and assists-per-game (4.0, fifth).
Promise Taylor led the conference and was sixth in the NCAA in blocks-per-game (3.0). Taylor has had 15 blocks in her last three games, including a program record 10 blocks in a 20-point, 11-rebound, and 10-block triple double against Evansville on Feb. 25.
Taylor is also second in the Valley in field-goal percentage (.595).
Quierra Love is fourth in the league in assists-per-game (4.1), and leads the MVC in assist/turnover ratio (2.5). This ranks 13th in the country.
Love and Jaidynn Mason are both top five in steals-per-game, with the junior guard's 2.0 steals ranking third and Mason's 1.7 ranking fifth.
Laniah Randle's 6.4 rebounds-per-game lead the Salukis entering the tournament.

LOOKING AT INDIANA STATE

The Sycamores enter the tournament as the 10th seed after finishing the regular season with an overall record of 11-18 and conference record of 6-14.
Indiana State is 1-6 in its last seven games, with its lone win coming against Bradley on March 2. The Sycamores were 10-12 before the recent stretch.
The Sycamores are looking to make it to the second round of the conference tournament for the second consecutive season. In 2021-22, Indiana State defeated Evansville, 89-75, to get past the first round.
ISU is averaging 64.0 points-per-game, which ranks eighth in the Valley.
Indiana State is fourth in the conference in turnover margin (0.48). The Sycamores also rank top five in the league in steals-per-game (7.72, fourth).

SERIES HISTORY

SIU holds an all-time record of 57-45 against the Sycamores. This season, the Salukis are 2-0 against Indiana State, winning 60-58 in the first meeting on Dec. 31, and then 79-64 in the second game on Feb. 23. Ashley Jones averaged 15.0 points-per-game against the Sycamores across the two matchups.
The Salukis have faced the Sycamores in Hoops in the Heartland in three of their last four tournament appearances. SIU won all three meetings.

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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events