Final...
Your First Place Salukis of Southern Illinois
74
Bradley Bravoyles 46.
GO DAWGS!!!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Alright, que the Rocky music. Valley Game of the Year Sunday. JuJu Redmond one of the hottest players in The Valley lately, had 23 tonight. She only had like 6 or 8 at halftime. She had a 37 point game last weekend and a 34 point game the week before and just passed Mak as the leading scorer in the conference.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
SIU vs Illiinois State at Redbird Arena 2pm (95.1 ESPN+)
Short Break Down:
Warren Nolan.com has this -1 Illinois State 54% chance to win. ELO predictor has this game EVEN.
It's Senior Day at ISU and we all know how those can go. JuJu Redmond is a senior. She's been on fire the last few weeks and has taken over the top spot as leading scorer in the conference.
If we lose, it's not the end of the world. All it does is change the trajectory of how we can win the regular season title. If we win - obviously - the conference crown is ours to lose as we stay atop with the fewest losses in conference play and four to play. (I'll get into those scenarios another time.)
ISU is basically the complete statisical opposite of Bradley who we hammered Friday night. ISU is at the top of nearly every statistical category in The Valley. But, they can be beat, as MSU showed Friday night and our nine point win in Carbondale.
The last time we played in Normal, we won an ugly, ugly game 43-41. As noted before, ISU hasn't played any of the top teams in the Valley for a while before Friday night. The MSU game was a street fight as ISU clawed their way back into the game after being down double digits in the firat half. After us they have to go to Iowa for UNI and Drake (who handed UNI its third straight loss yesterday IN Cedar Falls.)
Like I said before - It's Senior day, and we come in with our Big 3 a bit rested after the aforementioned blowout win at Bradley.
Coach Stein said she isn't concerned about us not being ready to play because we've been locked in and ready to roll just about all season.
Outside of the Big 3, our supporting cast has been stepping up since the Evansville road game a few weeks back. Q Love has been making a case for the All Defensive Team and her offensive production has been gaining in confidence. Caitlin Link has been playing great defense all season and her offense has been showing lately too. The Fresman duo of Tyrrany Brown and Laniah Randle have been stellar as well. Payton McCallister has found her stroke again.
If we stick to the game plan, we win. If things get a bit wonky it's gonna be a slugfest. Coach Stein and the players have been awesome at countering the oppositions halftime and in game adjustments. This is gonna be a wild ride today!
GO DAWGS!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Wooo-hooo!
Link hits a half court shot at the 1st quarter buzzer!!
SIU 24
ISU Red 9
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Damn. Links shot at the horn waived off.
21- 9 SIU after 1
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
At halftime...
SIU 31
Redbirds 15
Didn't have Gabby for the last 7:30 or so of the first half. Abby and Mak with 8 each. We hit 5-11 from deep and shot 46% overall.
Redbirds only shot 25% and no threes. Redmond with 6. She only had 6 at halftime on Friday night and finished with 23.
Great defense.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Total Saluki dominance in the 1st half.
Finish them off!
3rd quarter under 5 media timeout.
SIU 43-25. Abby already with a double-double. 16&10. Got a FT coming after the break.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Redbirds finish the third on an 8-0 run. Buuuut....
SIU 50
ISU 35
With 10 minutes to play.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Oh yeah...Mak passes 1900 career points. Ho-hum! 😀
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
As I've said this a few times this year about this team....
Didn't see this coming.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Final...
SIU 65
DEADBIRDS 49
Abby 20&12. Mak with 13. Gabby and Love with 10 each.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Props to AJ Katcher with big minutes when Gabby went down with 2 fouls in the first half and when she went down with her 3rd early in the 3rd quarter.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Conference is ours to lose at this point. We've got four left. ISU Blue and Evansville next weekend at home. And Loyola and Valpo on the road in the last weekend. Missouri State has the same four opponents to close out. Buckle up, folks!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
fantastic win. completely owned them. let's go pickup some long overdue hardware!
Craving a McBride Special!
