News | This Week in Saluki Athletics: January 27-February 2 - Southern Illinois University Athletics

News | This Week in Saluki Athletics: January 27-February 2

01/27/2025 | 10:55:00 | General

By: Peter Borkowski

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Another week of Southern Illinois athletics has come and gone. During that time, men's basketball picked up an impressive conference win on the road, women's basketball hosted a pair of home games, indoor season continued for track and field, and swim and dive raked in four weekly awards. So take a second to catch up on everything that happened this past week.

Men's Basketball (9-12, 4-6)
Men's basketball was in action twice this past week against confeence opponents, going 1-1.

Their week started on Wednesday with a 74-64 loss to Murray State. Ali Dibba led the way for SIU with 21 points and Kennard Davis Jr. helped out with 20 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jarrett Hensley was the only other Saluki to score double-digit points.

SIU rebounded nicely on Saturday with an 89-85 win over UIC. Dibba dropped 26 points to lead all players in scoring and Davis and Hensley joined him in double-digits. Sheridan Sharp helped out the scorers with his six assists while Davion Sykes and Damien Mayo Jr. cleaned up the boards with six rebounds apiece.

Conference play continues this week for men's basketball. They first travel to Valparaiso for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The squad then returns home on Saturday, Feb. 1, for a match with Drake; tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

Women's Basketball (3-14, 1-7)
Women's basketball was home for both of their contests last week, falling to UNI and Drake.

First was a 84-59 loss to UNI on Friday. Gift Uchenna had a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebound and Isabella Palmqvist hit double-digit points as well with 10. Tkiyah Nelson was close to a double-double of her own with nine points and nine rebounds while dishing out a game-high five assists.

The Salukis returned to action on Sunday with a 93-66 loss to Drake. Palmqvist hit the 20-point mark to tie for the game-lead in points and set a career-high, and she was followed up by Mia Gaines and her own career-high of 13 points. Uchenna was one rebound away from a double-double with her 10 points and nine rebounds and Nelson had 10 points as well.

Women's basketball hits the road twice this week. First, they visit in-state rival Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 31, for a 6:30 p.m. game. Then, on Sunday, Feb. 2, the Salukis visit Bradley at 2 p.m.

Track and Field
Indoor season continued this weekend for track and field, who participated in the Fighting Illini Challenge on Friday and Saturday.

On day one, SIU claimed the top two spots in the women's 400-meter event thanks to Leah Thames and Layla Watson. In the men's 400-meter, Andre Jackson II was the runner-up, finishing less than a second behind the event's winner, and in the men's heptathlon high jump, Jadon Robertson snagged third. During field events on Friday, Darrione Williams had the third best men's long jump with his leap of 7.03.

Podium results continued for the Salukis on Saturday. Finja Lorsbach set a personal best to win the women's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.08; Kasha Neilly and her 9.18 run came in second behind Lorsbach. Meanwhile, Brianna Nieset ran the mile in 5:13.86, securing second place in that event. On the men's side, Christian Coleman rounded out the top-three in the men's 60-meter hurdles with his personal-best time of 8.01, while Robertson secured third in the men's heptathlon hurdles. Moving back to field events, Ma'Kayala Winters finished third in the women's triple jump event while setting a new personal best with her jump of 10.92 meters.

The team gets some time off now before resuming action at the Missouri Invite on February 7.

Swim and Dive
While swim and dive was not in competition this past week, four Salukis managed to earn Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards on Wednesday for their efforts from the previous week.

Henrique Pacheco Januario was named the conference's Men's Swimmer of the Week after earning six podium finishes and setting a new career-best in the 100-yard breaststroke between competitions on January 17 and 18. In those same competitions, Olivia Herron found the podium eight different times while meeting NCAA "B" standards three times, which earned her this week's MVC's Women's Swimmer of the Week title.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Ramos Chávez and Liseska Gallegos Gutierrez were named the conference's Men's and Women's Freshman of the Week, respectively. Both earned five podium finishes during their previous two competitions.

After having over a week off, swim and dive's women's squad returns to action this Saturday, February 1, for a 1 p.m. meet at Vanderbilt. As for the men's team, they do not compete again until the MVC Championships on February 19.

Follow the Salukis
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X at @SIU_SwimDive, on Instagram at @SIU_Swimdive , and on Facebook at facebook.com/SIUSwimDive. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.