Preview | Women's Basketball Looks to Bounce Back on Wednesday against ULM

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team (0-2) will be visited by the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

Tune into ESPN+ at 6 p.m. to watch Wednesday night's game. Mike Trude and Saluki Hall of Famer Jamaal Tatum will have the call.
Larry Larson will have the radio call on NewsRadio WJPF 107.9 FM.

GAME PROMOTION

On Wednesday, it is 'Military Appreciation' night at the Banterra Center. Members of the military who bring an ID can get free admission to the game.
Fans can preorder the women's basketball ugly sweater here. Those who purchase the sweater are encouraged to wear them on Dec. 22 for SIU's game against UAB.

QUICK HITS

The Salukis are 0-2 to start the year after suffering losses to Auburn and Eastern Kentucky.
In its last game, SIU fell, 70-49, at home against Eastern Kentucky. Southern shot 30.0% from the field, 20.0% from deep, and 71.43% from the free throw line in the loss.
Isabella Palmqvist led the Salukis with 10 points in Sunday's defeat. Palmqvist is the first Saluki to reach double-figures in a game so far this season.
Southern Illinois has held its two opponents to an average of 67.5 points-per-game, which ranks seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Only Bradley has a lower field-goal percentage allowed (.224) than SIU, who is tied for second with Northern Iowa at .383 through two games.
The Salukis rank 12th in scoring offense, averaging 40.0 points-per-game.
In the MVC Preseason Poll, Southern was picked to finish 10th out of 12 teams. SIU received a total of 167 points in the poll. Drake was voted to finish first with 566 points and 39 first-place votes.
At the end of the 2023-24 season, the Salukis ranked eighth in the Valley in scoring (65.65 points-per-game) and fourth in scoring defense (68.48 PPG).
The Salukis concluded the year ranking first in the MVC and top 50 in the country in turnover margin (3.55).
Kelly Bond-White is in her third season in Carbondale and has a record of 23-41. The lone new faces on the coaching staff are Greg Brown (assistant coach) and Peyton Thevenot (graduate assistant).

LEADING THE SALUKIS

Gift Uchenna and Tkiyah Nelson are both averaging a team-high 6.0 points-per-game after two games. Uchenna also leads the team and is tied for seventh in the conference in rebounding at 9.5 rebounds-per-game, while Nelson is tied for the highest field-goal percentage (50%) and most steals (four) on the team.
Palmqvist is one of five players in the Valley shooting a perfect 1.000% from the free throw line (min. of four attempts).
Uchenna is tied for third in the MVC in blocks with four.
Southern Illinois' roster consists of four returners and 10 newcomers. Three of the 10 new additions are transfers, with those players being Kayla Cooper, Karris Allen, and Jeniah Thompson.
Cooper comes to SIU by way of the University of Oklahoma, where the sophomore guard spent two seasons including one where she redshirted in 2023-24. Allen was previously at Western Kentucky.
Thompson is making her return to the Southern Illinois area after spending the previous two seasons at Wichita State University.
SIU has six freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors, two seniors, and one graduate student on its roster. Of the 14 players, six are from outside the United States. Three players are from Nigeria, one is from Canada, another is from Denmark, and one is from Sweden.
In terms of returners, senior Tyranny Brown is the longest tenured Saluki, entering year four in Carbondale. Brown was a member of SIU's MVC regular season championship team in 2021-22.
Se'Quoia Allmond is in her second year as a Saluki, playing in 20 games and starting in five as a junior in 2023-24. Allmond missed 11 games due to injury.
Nelson and Angela Samuel are the team's other two returners. Samuel played in 19 games in 2023-24, while Nelson was featured in 27 and made one start.

LOOKING AT ULM

The Warhawks are 2-0 to begin the year, with wins over Central Baptist and Louisiana Christian. With 184 points through two games, ULM is averaging 92.0 points-per-game.
This will be Louisiana Monroe's first road game of the season. In 2023-24, the Warhawks posted an away record of 7-9, but were 10-4 at home. Overall, ULM was 21-14 and 10-8 in Sun Belt play.
Four different Warhawks are averaging double-digit points-per-game, with Jakayla Johnson's 18.5 PPG leading the team.
Missy Bilderback is in her second season as the head coach of the ULM program, compiling a record of 23-14 during that time.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be 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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