Abby falls one board short of a double-double had 21 and 9. Mak with 15. ISU did a good job of holding her in check. Gabby with limited minutes had 9. Had some good work from the bench tonight - 11 points. Our defense at times is spectacular. Held the Redbirds well under their season average. Bradley Bragolyes her Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
GO DAWGS!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
SIU vs Bradley 2pm, Saturday 1/22 at Banterra (Magic 95.1 & ESPN+)
Series History:
This is the 82nd meeting between the Salukis and the Braves in a series that dates back to 1983. Southern leads the series 52-29. The Braves have won the last three games including a 80-68 win in Peoria last January.
Overview Of The Braves:
The Braves are coached by Andrea Gorski in her 6 th year and was formerly an assistant coach under Stein here at Southern. The Braves reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history last spring. The Braves have struggled this season and are currently 3-12 and 0-6 in Valley play. The Braves lost their leading scorer and All-Conference guard Gabi Haack to season ending knee injury back at the start of the month.
Current Valley Standings/NET rankings as of 1/20
1) Illinois State 5-1 / 161 NET
T2) SIU 4-1 / 94 NET
Missouri State 4-1 / 35 NET
Indiana State 4-1 / 191 NET
5) UNI 3-2 / 48 NET
T6) Valpo 3-4 / 241 NET
Loyola 3-4 /117 NET
8) Drake 2-5 / 87 NET
9) Evansville 1-4 / 274 NET
10) Bradley 0-6 / 257 NET
The Braves As A Team:
Bradley is 8th in scoring at 60.8 ppg and 8th in points allowed 68ppg. 9 th in FG % .384 , 3 rd in 3pt % .338. They are 4th defensively at 39.4% shooting allowed and 8th in 3point shooting % defense at 33.7%. The Braves are 5th in rebounding at 36 a game, but give up 40 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of -3.9/gm (8th).
They are 7th in turnovers, last in steals and 5th in assists.
Meet the Braves Players:
The Braves were led by three time All-Conference Gr-S Guard Gabi Haack’s 17.1ppg until her season ending injury. Their only other double digit scorer is 5’4” Freshman guard Caroline Waite at 12.2ppg. Next in scoring is Tatum Koening a 5’7” senior guard at 9.5 ppg.
Other statistical leaders: Sierra Morrow, junior forward averages 5.3 rebounds per game. Koening averages 3.2 assists per game.
Haack was their all-around leader in every category except rebounds until she went down. This is definitely a huge blow to the Braves who were already struggling before she was lost for the season.
Common Non-Conference Opponent:
None
How Bradley Can Hurt Us:
This is a classic trap game.
Other than a blowout loss to Missouri State on Thursday night (64-44) and to ISU Blue on Jan 9 th (73-57) they’ve played their other Valley opponents to 7 points or less in losses after they lost Haack.
After our win over previously Valley unbeaten Illinois State, I doubt that we will overlook the Braves; but this game could be closer than expected due to our lack of bench and roll player production and poor three point shooting percentage. Fortunately, our defense has been quite impressive. We had a bit of a bench spark against Illinois State as AJ Katcher had eight points. We may get another much needed post player back in 6’1” Awa Kieta. She’s been out since the Tennessee game with a knee injury that has been bugging her since last year. If she plays, it would be nice for her to eat some minutes and spell Brockmeyer and Walker who have played quite a bit of minutes as our only two true post players.
SILVEY WATCH:
Makenzie is only 17 points from passing Cartaesha Macklin’s 1779 career points. She had a quiet 15 points on Thursday night. I’m sure she knows she’s close as The Dawg Pound has a sign within view behind the basket. I’m also sure she just wants to get this thing out of the way and play on. Not to add any pressure – But, if she keeps up with her current scoring average of 16.1ppg with 13 regular season games and at least one Valley Tournament game left, she could get to 1988 career points which would put her 3rd all-time in Saluki basketball scoring just 24 points behind second place Kent Williams’ 2012. Mak is currently in 6th, one point ahead of Saluki legend Darren Brooks. You may be thinking “With her COVID year of eligibility she’s playing more games?” If she breaks the record on Saturday, she’ll have taken down Macklin’s record in TWO LESS GAMES than Cartaesha played.
GO DAWGS!!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 1 quarter..
SIU 18
Gargoyles 13.
Mak with 8. Nine to go!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Damn - we can't buy a 3 lately. But our opponents sure can. Braves are 4-5 from 3 so far.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Braves rally.
Halftime
SIU 26
BRadley 28.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Poor shooting 1st half. Missing a lot of bunnies. Only 25%. Braves shooting 52%. Not great D.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 3 Bradley hanging around due to poor shooting
SIU 39
Bradley 37
Next Silvey basket is the record setter.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
At 7:52 of the 4th quarter Makenzie Silvey becomes the all-time leading scorer in SIU history!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Wow that may have been the ugliest 12 point win I've ever seen.
SIU 53
BRadley 41
Mak with 17
Abby with yes, a double-double 17 & 10
Gabby with 14 & 9.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Damnit! Redbirds beat Missouri State in Springfield. We're still a half game out of 1st behind the Redbirds. Plus side, the Bears are a game behind us. We're tied for 2nd with ISU Blue and playing them Thursday.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Congrats Makenzie!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Way to go Makenzie Silvey! SIU is putting together a really nice season.
Thursday's game with ISU Blue has been postponed due to COVID issues within the Sycamore's program.
No surprise there since their Saturday game with Loyola was cancelled at the last minute.
Second postponement for us. Glad it's not us that's sick. (Knock on wood.)
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
With UNI's win at Illinois State. SIU is now in 1st place in The Valley a half game up on ISU Blue!
On the road Saturday at Evansville who got hammered by Missouri State tonight.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
I watched and really enjoyed our whuppin' of the Redturds. This is the best SIU women's team I've seen in a long while. They can win the MVC. Be a great way for Silvey, Brockmeyer, Walker, etc to finish their careers.
