Tuesday, November 4
Carbondale, Ill.
11 a.m.
Southern Illinois University
vs
Lewis
Women’s Basketball Opens Season Tuesday Versus Lewis
11/03/2025 | 3:18:00 | Women's Basketball
Carbondale, Ill. – The 2025-26 women's basketball season has arrived. Southern Illinois will begin their season on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with an 11 a.m. match against Lewis.
Details
-What: Women's Basketball vs Lewis
-Date: November 4
-Time: 11 a.m.
-Location: Banterra Center, Carbondale, Illinois
-Opponent: Lewis University Flyers
-Live Results: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=623640
-Watch: ESPN+
-Listen: The Varsity Network
Last Season
The Salukis are coming off a 2024-25 season in which they went 4-26 with a 2-18 mark in conference play. Their wins came against IU-Indy, Central Methodist (Mo.), Indiana State, and Evansville. Their season came to a close on March 13 with a 88-48 loss to Illinois State in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
SIU's lone All-MVC member was Gift Uchenna, who was All-MVC Third Team and a member of the All-Newcomer team. Uchenna, who has since transferred to Wisconsin, rewrote the single-season program record for rebounds-per-game (12.7) and total rebounds (369). The transfer ended up leading the Valley in rebounding, offensive rebounding, and double-doubles. She also ranked second in the nation for rebounding.
Preseason Rankings
The MVC announced their Preseason Poll on October 22, and the Salukis were picked to finish 10th in the 11-team field. The top of the field featured Belmont (446 points, 25 first- place votes), Murray State (436 points, 13 first-place votes), Illinois State (387 points, two first-place votes), and Drake (371 points, four first-place votes).
Key Returners
While SIU did lose some key personnel from last year's team, plenty of major minute-getters return to the squad this season. Kayla Cooper led last year's team in minutes with 928 while averaging 9.8 points-per-game, the most of any returner. Her 63 assists ranked second on the squad last year.
Tkiyah Nelson also returns to the team after playing 835 minutes last season. Nelson was the team's assist-leader with 76 as well as the steals-leader with 48. Nelson was a solid rebounder as well, leading all returners with a mark of 4.1 boards-per-game.
Kelowna Ngoyi and Mia Gaines also are back in maroon as the only other two Salukis to play over 200 minutes last season.
Impactful Newcomers
Southern welcomes a plethora of newcomers to the roster who a set to make an impact this season.
One such newcomer is Indya Green. The transfer from Georgia Southern started 31 games for the Eagles last season, averaging 12 points-per-game and 8.8 rebounds-per-game which ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference. Her 45.2% field goal percentage was third in the conference. This will be Green's second go-around in the MVC, as she played for Missouri State for two seasons when the Bears where apart of The Valley. Prior to this season, Green was named an MVC Player to Watch.
Also named an MVC Player to Watch was Alayna Kraus, a transfer from Oral Roberts. The Okwaville native played in 15 games last season as a freshman, averaging 3.3 points-per-game with a 42.4% shooting rate from the field and 38.5% clip from beyond the arc.
Other key transfers include Kynnedi Davis (Trinity Valley CC), Hiba Malkawi (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College), and Carmen Morales (Benedictine College).
The Matchup
This will be the first time SIU and Lewis meet in program history. And with Lewis being a Division II school, the game will count as an exhibition for the Flyers but a regular season contest for the Salukis.
Looking Ahead
Following the Lewis game, SIU hits a road for a two-game set at Purdue Fort Wayne on November 15 and Missouri on November 18. They then briefly return home to host Austin Peay on November 23.
The Salukis then participate in the Coast 2 Coast Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee, right before Thanksgiving. They will take on Winthrop on November 25 and Arkansas on November 26. Following the holiday, the Salukis are back in Carbondale to host Western Kentucky on November 30 before hitting the road again to visit UAB on December 3. The largely non-conference portion of the schedule closes out on December 6 at home against SEMO.
MVC play begins on December 18 with a trip to Bradley before the Saluki play their final non-conference match on December 20 against Judson. After Christmas, it is all conference play for the Salukis, beginning on December 29 with a home match against Belmont. The final home game of the year takes place on February 28 against Drake before the regular season ends on March 8 at Evansville.
The 2026 MVC Credit Union 1 Women's Basketball Tournament takes place in Coralville, Iowa, this season at the Xtream Arena.
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.
Details
-What: Women's Basketball vs Lewis
-Date: November 4
-Time: 11 a.m.
-Location: Banterra Center, Carbondale, Illinois
-Opponent: Lewis University Flyers
-Live Results: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=623640
-Watch: ESPN+
-Listen: The Varsity Network
Last Season
The Salukis are coming off a 2024-25 season in which they went 4-26 with a 2-18 mark in conference play. Their wins came against IU-Indy, Central Methodist (Mo.), Indiana State, and Evansville. Their season came to a close on March 13 with a 88-48 loss to Illinois State in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
SIU's lone All-MVC member was Gift Uchenna, who was All-MVC Third Team and a member of the All-Newcomer team. Uchenna, who has since transferred to Wisconsin, rewrote the single-season program record for rebounds-per-game (12.7) and total rebounds (369). The transfer ended up leading the Valley in rebounding, offensive rebounding, and double-doubles. She also ranked second in the nation for rebounding.
Preseason Rankings
The MVC announced their Preseason Poll on October 22, and the Salukis were picked to finish 10th in the 11-team field. The top of the field featured Belmont (446 points, 25 first- place votes), Murray State (436 points, 13 first-place votes), Illinois State (387 points, two first-place votes), and Drake (371 points, four first-place votes).
Key Returners
While SIU did lose some key personnel from last year's team, plenty of major minute-getters return to the squad this season. Kayla Cooper led last year's team in minutes with 928 while averaging 9.8 points-per-game, the most of any returner. Her 63 assists ranked second on the squad last year.
Tkiyah Nelson also returns to the team after playing 835 minutes last season. Nelson was the team's assist-leader with 76 as well as the steals-leader with 48. Nelson was a solid rebounder as well, leading all returners with a mark of 4.1 boards-per-game.
Kelowna Ngoyi and Mia Gaines also are back in maroon as the only other two Salukis to play over 200 minutes last season.
Impactful Newcomers
Southern welcomes a plethora of newcomers to the roster who a set to make an impact this season.
One such newcomer is Indya Green. The transfer from Georgia Southern started 31 games for the Eagles last season, averaging 12 points-per-game and 8.8 rebounds-per-game which ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference. Her 45.2% field goal percentage was third in the conference. This will be Green's second go-around in the MVC, as she played for Missouri State for two seasons when the Bears where apart of The Valley. Prior to this season, Green was named an MVC Player to Watch.
Also named an MVC Player to Watch was Alayna Kraus, a transfer from Oral Roberts. The Okwaville native played in 15 games last season as a freshman, averaging 3.3 points-per-game with a 42.4% shooting rate from the field and 38.5% clip from beyond the arc.
Other key transfers include Kynnedi Davis (Trinity Valley CC), Hiba Malkawi (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College), and Carmen Morales (Benedictine College).
The Matchup
This will be the first time SIU and Lewis meet in program history. And with Lewis being a Division II school, the game will count as an exhibition for the Flyers but a regular season contest for the Salukis.
Looking Ahead
Following the Lewis game, SIU hits a road for a two-game set at Purdue Fort Wayne on November 15 and Missouri on November 18. They then briefly return home to host Austin Peay on November 23.
The Salukis then participate in the Coast 2 Coast Music City Classic in Nashville, Tennessee, right before Thanksgiving. They will take on Winthrop on November 25 and Arkansas on November 26. Following the holiday, the Salukis are back in Carbondale to host Western Kentucky on November 30 before hitting the road again to visit UAB on December 3. The largely non-conference portion of the schedule closes out on December 6 at home against SEMO.
MVC play begins on December 18 with a trip to Bradley before the Saluki play their final non-conference match on December 20 against Judson. After Christmas, it is all conference play for the Salukis, beginning on December 29 with a home match against Belmont. The final home game of the year takes place on February 28 against Drake before the regular season ends on March 8 at Evansville.
The 2026 MVC Credit Union 1 Women's Basketball Tournament takes place in Coralville, Iowa, this season at the Xtream Arena.
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.
Players Mentioned
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