23-24 Women's Basketball

Southern cuts the lead to 6 after being down 15 at one point in the 3rd.

Headed to the 4th.

SIU 44

WVU 50

Randle with 21

Final

SIU 55

WVU 73

Things were looking interesting then the Mountaneers went on a 17-2 run. 

Randle with a big game 30 and 11. Not much from everyone else. Love with a goose egg. WVU scored 28 points off our 18 turnovers. We only scored 8 points off their 13 turnovers. 

Oh well, productive trip to PR. Showed some guts without our top two scorers and one of our best on-ball defenders. 

Back home on the 6th to face Little e. 

Laniah Randle MVC Player of the Week. 

AND

NCAA Starting Five Players of the Week National Honor. 

Congrats Laniah. Making Dad proud!!

https://mvc-sports.com/news/2023/11/27/WBB_Weekly_Awards_11_27.aspx

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women/article/2023-11-28/fairfields-janelle-brown-headlines-weeks-womens-basketball-starting-five

GAMEDAY – WEDNESDAY 12/6

Banterra Center 11am

SIU-e (2-7) vs SIU (3-4)

Media: Streaming Audio - Varsity Sports Network

or Radio WJPF 107.9 (Larry Larson)

Video Streaming: ESPN+ (Dominic Hoscher/Mike Trude)

WarrenNolan.com Prediction:

Line: Salukis -16  O/U 144

This game is the annual Kids Field Trip Game. If you want to go to this one - be prepared for 4000 grade, middle and junior high schoolers. I ain’t going… The high-pitched cheering last year was too much for me (nearly triggered a migraine).

SIU-e/SIU Series At A Glance:

In a series that dates all the way back to 1975 – We’ve only played our sister school seven times and hold a 4-3 advantage. The last meeting – in Edwardsville – we won 103-67 in November of 2019

Let’s Look At Cougars:

Edwardsville is coached by Samantha Quigley-Smith in her third season coming off a 9-22 (7-11 OVC) season.

SIU-e’s Dramatis Personae:

The Cougars are led by Tulsa graduate transfer KK Rodriguez. She is a 5-6 guard who is averaging 23 points per game, which is good for ninth in the nation. She also pulls down 5.2 rebounds per game (second on the team). Her splits are pretty impressive .482 FG% and 58% from three.

Edwardsville’s second leading scorer is 5-8 Jr guard Sofie Lowis at 9.6 ppg. The Cougars third leading scorer is a familiar family name….Macy Silvey the younger sister of our own All-Time leading scorer Makenzie Silvey. Macy a 5-10 sophomore guard who averages 9.2 ppg and 4.6 boards per game. She takes after her older sister in taking a high-volume of shots per game.

Tale Of The Tape:

                           SIUe      SIU

PPG                 74.3     67.9    

Pts Allowed     83.7     68.4

FG%                 .414     .421

FG% DEF          .461     .463

3pt%                .369     .297

3pt % DEF        .357     .321

FT%                 .775      .617

Rebounds       35.8     34.0

Reb OPP          40.8      34.9

Assists             14.9     14.6

Turnovers        16.6     17.4    

T/O Forced      14.0     20.9

Steals              5.9       11.3

Blocks              2.9       3.3

Offensive Rtg  124th  190th

Defensive Rtg    328th 144th

Pace of Play      30th   96th

What’s Up With Us?

After an impressive 2-1 trip to Puerto Rico - where Laniah Randle went into beast mode scoring 74 points in three games including a 30 point double-double against Big 12 West Virginia – we return home for our next two. Home hasn’t necessarily been a happy place for us so far. But, with the return of Jaidynn Mason (don’t know about Shemera Williams) we’ll see how this homestand goes.

GO DAWGS!!!

Halftime...

SIU 34

Little e 23

Randle went down with an early injury but returned. The Cougars top player, KK Rodriguez, went down with an ugly knee injury. She was on the floor for quite a while. She had 13 of their 17 points at the time. 

24 rebounds at halftime, but 12 turnovers and 12 fouls and crappy FT shooting. Randle leading the way with 9, but could have more as she's missed 3 or 4 bunnies. 

Mason has returned, but still no Williams.

Headed to the 4th. Dawgs up 23. Randle had a big quarter. Now with a double-double.

Final...

DAWGS 77

e 53

Starters pulled in the fourth. Randle with  21 & 10. Mason knocking the rust off with 7 points in 10 minutes. Love and Brown with 9. 32 bench points. Waaaay to many turnovers and fouls. Need to clean that up with SLU coming in on Saturday.

GAMEDAY – SATURDAY 12/9

Banterra Center 4pm

Saint Louis University (5-5) vs SIU (4-4)

Media: Streaming Audio - Varsity Sports Network

or Radio WJPF 107.9 (Larry Larson)

Video Streaming: ESPN+ (Dominic Hoscher/Mike Trude)

A little late should have put this up yesterday when I had it done....

WarrenNolan.com Prediction:

Line: Salukis -8   O/U: 138

RPI/NET  - SLU: 213/213    Southern: 177/138

SLU/SIU Series At A Glance:

In a series that dates back to 1970 we have played the Billikens twenty three times and hold a 13-10 series advantage. Of the last five meetings SLU has won four of five including getting walloped last year in St. Louis 82-54.

Let’s Look At The Billikens:

The Billikens are Coached by Rebecca Tillet who is in her second season. She led the Bills to a 14-17 regular season record. SLU got hot at the right time went 7-1 in February then won the A-10 tournament title advancing them to the schools first ever NCAA Tourney appearance. SLU lost a lot of its interior including the nation’s top shot blocker, they aren’t much bigger than us. We are the fourth Valley school on their non-conference schedule losing to both Drake and Missouri State by 12 and beating UIC by 4. They have a baaaad loss getting hammered by Division II Chaminade by FOURTY-SIX. YIKES!

Billikens Dramatis Personae:

SLU is led in scoring by Kyla McMakin a 5-11 Graduate guard and her 17.1ppg. Next is 5-11 senior forward Peyton Kennedy and her 15.2ppg and .496 shooting percentage. They have one other double digit scorer in Brooklyn Gray a 5-11 Sophomore guard at 10.9ppg.

Tale Of The Tape:

                           SLU      SIU

PPG                 77.0     69.0    

Pts Allowed     75.4     66.5

FG%                 .445     .423

FG% DEF          .437     .441

3pt%                .309     .308

3pt % DEF        .349     .283

FT%                 .771      .626

Rebounds       39.2     35.3

Reb OPP          34.0      35.1

Assists             13.9     14.9

Turnovers        18.5     17.6    

T/O Forced      18.2     21.6

Steals              8.5       11.3

Blocks              2.8       3.1

Offensive Rtg  140th  154th

Defensive Rtg   247th 119th

Pace of Play    20th   93rd

The Billikens don’t play great defense. They are ranked 332^nd in points allowed and 291^st in defense beyond the arc and are pretty much average in other statistical categories.

What’s Up With Us?

Another game another 20 point effort by Laniah Randle, her fourth in a row. Against Little e she had a 21 and 10 double-double. Randle is now second in the conference in scoring and has climbed inside the top seventy nationally. She is also second in the conference in rebounding - just shy of double digits at nine rebounds per game and is 57^th nationally in rebounds per game. She is tied for 39^th nationally in double-doubles.

That game was a good return to action game after an eleven-day layoff. It knocked the rust off and helped us get ready for this important game to possibly keep us at or over .500 in the non-conference slate.

Jaidynn Mason returned to action scoring 7 points in 10 minutes off the bench.

GO DAWGS!!!

Halftime

SIU 37

BILLIKENS 37

We were up 10 at one point in the second. Bills finished the half on a 17-7 run with a three at the buzzer to tie it.

Very little from Randle. Hughes with a double-double 12 & 11. Mason with 13.

Headed to the 4th...

SIU 55

SLU 56

Offense went stagnant, people standing around. 

FINAL

SIU 75

SLU 67

Hughes with a 14 & 13 double-double. Randle with 11 & 10. Mason with the big game 26!

Big win!

Outrebounded SLU 46-30. Didn't seem like Mason took 25 shots, but she did. Was 11-25. Not going to see a line from Love like this too many times - 0 pts. 0 steals. 2 assists. And 5 turnovers. At the start of the 4th Coach pulled Randle and Love sent them to the end of the bench and lit into the both of them. After they came back in, the rally started. Allmond had a really good game with 11 pts and ran the offense well. 

Seemed like SLU had more than 16 turnovers. 

Good game - On to Oklahoma State!

Love it when SIU beats SLU.  They think they’re superior to SIU……but they’re wrong.

GAMEDAY – SUNDAY 12/17

Stillwater, OK 1PM

SIU (5-4) vs Oklahoma State (5-3)

Media: Streaming Audio - Varsity Sports Network

or Radio WJPF 107.9 (Larry Larson)

Video Streaming: ESPN+

WarrenNolan.com Prediction:

Line: Cowgirls -10   O/U: 136

OK St/SIU Series At A Glance: First ever meeting.

Let’s Look At Oklahoma State: The Cowgirls are coached by Jacie Hoyt in her 7^th year. Career record of 107-80

 Cowgirls Leaders:

Stailee Heard 5-11 Freshman guard 15.1ppg.

Anna Gret Asi 5-8 Junior guard 14.8ppg.

They have three good size post players (6-3, 6-3 & 6-5) but none, statistically, look like much of a factor as they all average below 5ppg.

NET/RPI:

OK St – 66/113

SIU – 142/179

Tale Of The Tape:

                           OSU      SIU

PPG                 76.6     69.7    

Pts Allowed    67.5     66.6

FG%                 .475     .427

FG% DEF         .421     .428

3pt%               .352     .315

3pt % DEF       .306     .303

FT%                 .774      .632

Rebounds       33.1     36.4

Reb OPP         33.1      34.6

Assists             12.4     14.3

Turnovers       15.9     17.7    

T/O Forced     16.9     21.0

Steals              7.8       10.9

Blocks             2.4       3.2

Offensive Rtg  71st     187th

Defensive Rtg  187th  95th

Pace of Play    65th   74th

What’s Up With Us?

This our first, and only, true road game of the non-conference schedule. Last time out against SLU we rallied from nine down in the second half and outscored the Bills 20-11 in the 4^th. Jaidynn Mason had a breakout game scoring 26. Hughes and Randle each had a double-double.

GO DAWGS!!!

Shemera Williams is back. Good start for us.

Guess I misread their coach's profile. It's only her second season in Stillwater.