Salukis ready for exhibition opener against Quincy on Friday
11/06/2014 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
| Exhibition: Quincy (0-0, 0-0 GLVC) at Southern Illinois (0-0, 0-0 MVC) | |
| Date | Friday, Nov. 7 |
| Time | 6:05 p.m. |
| Location | Carbondale, Ill. -- SIU Arena (8,339) |
| Video | Saluki All-Access |
| Radio | None |
| Notes | Southern Illinois |
| 2013-14 Season Stats | Southern Illinois |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| SIU Media Guide | Media Guide |
| Social Media | @SIU_WBasketball  | Facebook  |
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Saluki women's basketball will begin its 2014-15 season with an exhibition contest against Quincy on Friday night at the SIU Arena.
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
Head Coach: Cindy Stein • Second Season • 287-231 (18th season) • 5-25 at SIU
Quincy Lady Hawks (0-0, 0-0 GLVC)
Head Coach: Jeni Garber • Third Season • 59-28 (third season) • 59-28 at Quincy
ON-THE-AIR
Radio: None
TV: None
Web Stream: Saluki All-Access
Play-by-Play: Bryce Williams (third season)
FOR STARTERS
The Southern Illinois women's basketball team wrapped up the first year of the Cindy Stein era with a 5-25 record and a 3-15 mark in MVC play. SIU lost three of its top six players in the opening weeks of the season and never got rolling. Southern dressed only nine players throughout the MVC season, and all available players played in every conference game, including the MVC Tournament. Southern's two bright spots were center Dyana Pierre, who became the school's second first-team All-MVC selection in the last 14 seasons, and a huge upset of MVC co-champion Wichita State at SIU Arena. The Shockers went on to win the MVC Tournament and represent the Valley in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to three-seed Penn State -- which advanced all the way to the Sweet 16.
PRESEASON POLL
Southern was picked to finish ninth in the annual MVC Preseason Poll, which tallies the votes of conference coaches, media and SIDs. The Salukis are coming off a 5-25 season that included a 3-15 mark in Valley play. Southern was hit hard with losses to key players such as 2012-13 Honorable Mention All-MVC honoree Cartaesha Macklin and 2012-13 MVC All-Freshmen team member Rishonda Napier. Both Macklin and Napier return this season alongside All-MVC center Dyana Pierre and six others with starting experience from last year. That number includes junior Azia Washington, who was second in scoring (9.6 points per game) and rebounding (6.8 per game) on Southern's roster last season. 2013-14 champion Wichita State were tabbed as the preseason favorites, but the Salukis were one of WSU's seven losses last season in a thrilling victory over the Shockers in Carbondale on March 1.
"I'm extremely excited to get this season underway," head coach Cindy Stein said. "This season is already 10 times better. It's been intense; it's been competitive. We have 14 young ladies working their tails off. To try to get an 8- or 10-person rotation at this point is really tough because it's so competitive. We didn't have that last year. We ended last year with eight scholarship kids and a walk-on, so I think we're going to be much better."
PIERRE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Junior center Dyana Pierre was one of six honorees on the MVC's Preseason All-Conference team. Pierre is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign where she became only the second Saluki since 2000 to earn First-Team All-MVC status -- the eighth-ever First-Team All-MVC honor in Saluki women's history since Valley play began in 1992-93.
In 2013-14, the sophomore center ranked first in the conference in double-doubles (12), first in rebounding (9.5), first in 10+ rebound games (13), first in offensive rebounds (4.1), third in blocks (1.5), fifth in field goal percentage (.503), fourth in defensive rebounding (5.4), seventh in 20-point games (7), eighth in the conference in scoring (14.3), and 10th in minutes played (31.4). In rebounding, Pierre led the conference by 58 total rebounds.
In her two-year career, Pierre has led the conference in rebounding in both years and ranked in the top-two in double-doubles in both years. Her career rebounding (9.2) currently ranks fourth in MVC history. Her career double-doubles total (21) is tied for 13th in MVC history. In a weekend against Missouri State and an upset of MVC Co-Champion Wichita State last season, Pierre posted the first back-to-back 20-point, 15-rebound games since MVC play started in 1992-93.
VETERAN LEADERSHIP RETURNS
After getting through 2013-14 with only eight scholarship players, Southern now lives with a luxury of 14 student-athletes ready to play. Junior Cartaesha Macklin and sophomore Rishonda Napier return after both missed last season; both are slated to jump right back into their starting roles. The Salukis also have three seniors on this year's roster (Mercedes Griffin, Ariel Haynes and Alexus Patterson), as well as four juniors in addition to Macklin (Dyana Pierre, Hannah Shores, JUCO transfer Blair Stephenson and Azia Washington).
PIERRE NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-MVC
Dyana Pierre was named a first-team All-Conference selection last season, the first first-team All-MVC selection for SIU since Carlai Moore earned first-team honors in 2006-07 and only the second first-team selection for SIU since 2000.
In 2013-14, the sophomore center ranked first in the conference in double-doubles (12), first in rebounding (9.6), first in 10+ rebound games (13), first in offensive rebounds (4.1), third in blocks (1.5), fifth in field goal percentage (.503), fourth in defensive rebounding (5.4), seventh in 20-point games (7), eighth in the conference in scoring (14.3), and 10th in minutes played (31.4). In rebounding, Pierre led the conference by 58 total rebounds.
Dyana Pierre HITS 500-500 CLUB
Dyana Pierre became the 20th player in SIU history in the 500-point, 500-rebound club against Missouri State. Pierre has 625 points and 544 rebounds in her 59-game SIU career. She is only the third Saluki player since 2001 to join the 500-500 club.
Pierre surpassed the 500 career points mark at Missouri State. The sophomore center became the 50th player in program history to score 500 or more points. After scoring 238 points as a freshman, Pierre eclipsed that mark in the 18th game of her second campaign. The sophomore is second on the team in career points, trailing only Cartaesha Macklin, who has 1,031 points in her career.
PIERRE LEADS MVC IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Dyana Pierre was the MVC leader with 12 double-doubles in 2013-14. She is also the active career double-double leader with 21 double-doubles. In two years at SIU, Pierre's 21 double-doubles are two more than Agenette Sumrall for most of any SIU player since MVC play started in 1993-94. Sumrall had 19 double-doubles in 1993-94 and 1994-95.
Pierre has put up some impressive numbers in several games. Against Bradley, Pierre put up 33 points and 18 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. She had 27 points and 18 rebounds against Missouri State and followed it up with 23 points and 15 rebounds in the very next game. Her two 20-point, 15-rebound double-doubles matched the other nine MVC teams combined this season.
Last season, Pierre scored in double-figures 20 times and recorded double-digit rebounds an MVC-leading 13 times. Since Valley play began in 1993-94, only 22 players in conference history have recorded 15 or more double-doubles. Pierre is the active MVC leader with 21 and is tied for 13th on the MVC's all-time list.
Pierre was also one of the top rebounders in the MVC. At 9.6 rebounds per game, Pierre led the conference in rebounding and had the most 10+ rebound games of any player in the MVC with 13. In MVC-only play, Pierre leads the conference in rebounding at 9.9 rebounds per game.
TOP-10 SEASONS IN BLOCKS, REBOUNDS
Sophomore center Dyana Pierre had 44 blocks for the 2013-14 season, which ranks third on the school's single-season list. Combined in her two years at SIU, Pierre's 80 career blocks already ranks sixth in school history, and she is just three blocks away from third-place on the school's all-time career list.
As a freshman in 2012-13, Pierre ranked sixth in school history with 277 rebounds and she ended last season with 287 rebounds -- the sixth-most in a single-season in school history. At 564 total rebounds through two seasons, Pierre is just 13 rebounds away from cracking SIU's top-15 all-time.
GRIFFIN STEPS UP
Mercedes Griffin stepped up on both ends of the court for the Salukis in conference play last season, nearly doubling all her statistics from non-conference play. Griffin totaled 14 assists in 11 non-conference games (1.3 per game); but she surpassed that total in the first four MVC games in 2013-14. Griffin racked up 17 assists (4.3 per game) in the first four games and had 50 by the end of MVC play (2.8 per game).
Griffin picked up her scoring, too. After scoring in double-figures once in the first 13 games this season, Griffin scored in double-figures seven times in MVC play, including a career-best 17 points at Illinois State.
GRIFFIN STEALING THE SHOW
Mercedes Griffin picked up more than one steal in 12 of SIU's last 16 games last season. After averaging .8 steals per game in the first 12 games of the season, Griffin picked up 32 steals in the last 14 games (2.3 per game). In 18 conference games, Griffin averaged 1.9 steals per contest. Griffin had five steals against both Evansville and Wichita State, and she picked up four more at Loyola.
MACKLIN RETURNS
Redshirt junior Cartaesha Macklin, Southern's all-time active leader in scoring with 1,031 points, returns with two years of eligibility remaining after only playing in seven games in 2013-14. In two years plus her seven games last season, Macklin has quickly established herself in Southern's record book. Her 1,031 points ranks 22nd all-time, which falls just 107 points of cracking the top-10. Macklin is so close thanks to two top-10 single-season scoring years her freshman (495 points, sixth all-time) and sophomore (465 points, 10th all-time) seasons.
NAPIER COMES BACK
Also returning is redshirt sophomore Rishonda Napier, who played in just five games last season after a digestive tract issue forced her to miss the remainder of the year. Napier was selected to the MVC All-Freshman team in 2012-13 after an impressive season that saw her play in all 30 games and starting in 26. That year Napier averaged 11.3 points per game, helped by 57 three-pointers made -- the ninth-most in a single season in school history.
SHORES AWARDED SCHOLARSHIP
After playing a pivotal role on Southern's roster as a walk-on in 2013-14, junior Hannah Shores was rewarded with an athletic scholarship back on Sept. 10. Shores, a native of nearby Centralia, Ill., played in all 30 games last year, which included 18 starts. She averaged 25.3 minutes played and 4.0 points per game in addition to leading Southern with 65 assists (2.17 per game).
"Hannah has done everything that we have asked of her," SIU head coach Cindy Stein said. "She is a driven and focused young lady that has demonstrated the qualities that we search for in our players. She is a huge part of our SIU women's basketball family and with all of those attributes I felt that Hannah deserved an athletic scholarship for the 2014-15 season. We are extremely proud to have an opportunity to coach such a wonderful young lady."
SOUTHERN WELCOMES FOUR NEWCOMERS
SIU is 14-deep this year thanks to a strong recruiting class of three freshmen and one junior college transfer that each have a possibility of seeing significant playing time this season.
• Freshman guard Kylie Giebelhausen (6-1, East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria HS) was a two-time first-team All-Conference honoree and a 2014 Honorable Mention All-State selection by the Associated Press at East Peoria HS. There she led her team in scoring, rebounding, blocks, assists and steals in each of her last two seasons.
• Freshman guard Micah Norris (5-11, Murfreesboro, Tenn./Blackman HS) was rated a three-star recruit by ESPN.com, which also ranked her as a top-60 wing player in the Class of 2014. Norris played on Blackman's 2014 state championship team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN and No. 1 in the state of Tennessee. She was also a National Player of the Game on Dec. 27, 2013 and was a part of the 2013 AAU National Champion Tennessee Flight team.
• Freshman forward/center Celina VanHyfte (6-0, Annawan, Ill./Annawan HS) comes to Carbondale with a lengthy list of accomplishments from Annawan High School. VanHyfte, the daughter of two former Division I athletes themselves, put up an all-time school record 2,493 points and nabbed 1,169 rebounds -- averaging 20.3 and 10.1 over her career. She was a four-time All-State selection by the Associated Press and led Annawan to its first ever state championship in 2013-14. She finished her career eighth in IHSA history in field goals (968) and 10th in career free throws (557).
• Junior transfer guard Blair Stephenson (5-7, St. Louis, Mo./Lake Land College/Cardinal Ritter HS) comes to Carbondale after earning an NJCAA All-American award in 2014. At Lake Land in 2014, Stephenson ranked nationally in assists per game (6.2, 10th), three-point percentage (.462, 31st) and scoring (17.0 PPG, 47th).
SIU WINS DOUBLE OT GAME, 100-96
In a wild game that involved nine lead changes and seven ties, the Saluki women's basketball team came out on top of a roller coaster double-overtime spectacle over Bradley, 100-96, on Jan. 2 at the SIU Arena. After tying the game to send it to overtime, and allowing Bradley to tie the game in the first overtime, the Salukis finally pulled out a victory over the Braves on a game-winning layup by Mercedes Griffin with 14.4 seconds left and a crucial defensive stop on the ensuing BU possession. Southern got phenomenal career performances out of Dyana Pierre (33 points, 18 rebounds) and Azia Washington (27 points, 15 rebounds), but it was the late bench play of freshmen Carlie Corrigan and Kim Nebo that ended up being vital to the Saluki victory.
SOUTHERN TOPS EVANSVILLE
Southern Illinois got its second win of the conference season against Evansville at SIU Arena on Jan. 26. Dyana Pierre posted 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Salukis from a five-point halftime deficit to a nine-point victory.
SALUKIS STUN SHOCKERS
Southern Illinois snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 64-59 win over first-place Wichita State on March 1. SIU outrebounded the Shockers by double-figures while posting its third-lowest turnover total and third-highest assist total of the year. SIU tooks its first lead of the game will less than four minutes remaining and held on for the win.
IMPROVEMENTS FROM 2012-13
Southern made several improvements from the 2012-13 campaign in head coach Cindy Stein's first year as the team's head coach. The Salukis won three conference games this year, which was a two-win improvement from 2012-13. The team's scoring defense was improved 2.8 points per game, and the team's field goal percentage defense improved from ninth to sixth in the league. The team's 3-point percentage defense improved two spots from eighth to sixth. Most notably, the team's rebounding margin improved from -5.3 boards per game to +0.2, going from 10th to fourth.
CLOSE LOSSES
Six of Southern's losses came by single-digit margins, including five games decided by five points or fewer. Twice, SIU lost a two-point game with an opponent jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining, dropping games to Austin Peay and Drake at the last second. In addition, SIU sent the game against Illinois State into overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer but lost 68-63 in OT to the Redbirds.
SALUKIS RAISE $4,000 FOR HOPE IS HOME
The Southern Illinois vs. Drake game on Feb. 8 was Southern's Go Pink game. Southern Illinois wore unique, pink jerseys for the game. Ten winning bidders had the opportunity to put the name of their choosing on the back of a jersey, including the opportunity to honor a survivors or victims of cancer. The winning bids totaled more than $4,000, all of which is going to the Hope is Home campaign, Southern Illinois Healthcare's fundraiser for a new, comprehensive cancer center in southern Illinois. After the game, bidders kept were given their jerseys to keep. Combined with the three years of the Black Out Cancer annual football game and jersey auction, Southern Illinois athletics has raised more than $200,000 for the Hope is Home campaign.
SALUKI RADIO NETWORK
The flagship station for Saluki women's basketball is WVZA 105.1 FM, although 10 regular season games will be broadcast on WHET 97.7 FM due to conflicts with SIU men's basketball broadcasts. Bryce Williams is in his third season as the full-time radio broadcaster for Saluki women's basketball.
FOLLOW US
The official Twitter of Saluki women's basketball is @SIU_WBasketball. This account features team news as well as live in-game updates. Fans can also follow Saluki Athletics @SIUSalukis for news on all SIU sports.
SALUKI ALL-ACCESS
Coverage for every Saluki women's basketball game is available online though Saluki All-Access at www.SIUSalukis.com/allaccess. Saluki All-Access also has on-demand content for all 18 Saluki sports. Beginning with SIU's Nov. 14 matchup with UT-Martin, audio will be available for free through Stretch Internet. Links can be found on the schedule page on SIUSalukis.com.
SALUKI NEWS ONLINE
SIUSalukis.com is the official website for SIU Athletics. It is the best source for up-to-date information on the Saluki women's basketball team. Rosters, box scores, cumulative statistics, pre-game notes and other materials are available on the site. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read PDF files.
