Women's Basketball 2022-23

Belmont hangs on against Drake and wins thier 12th straight. ISU-R and Belmont tied at the top heading into the final weekend 

We're locked into Thursday but could still get the sixth seed with a little help next weekend. We're tied with UIC they get Belmont and Murray in Chicago. We have to go on the road to UNI and Drake.

Belmont was picked to win it all.

Salukis destroyed Evansville tonight by 46.

SIU 11-16 (8-10) at UNI 19-8 (14-4)

Thursday March 2nd, 6pm McLeod Center

ESPN+ / 95.1 Steve FM

WarrenNolan.com Prediction: UNI -22

 The Purple Prairie Kitties As Of Late…

Since beating us in Carbondale on January 28^th, the Panthers have gone 6-2 with a two point loss to ISU-R and a five point loss last Thursday at surging Belmont. They currently sit in a tie for third with a surprising Missouri State at 14-4 in Valley play one game back of the Redbirds and the Bruins. Last time against us the Panthers won 94-81. We ran out of gas and nearly ran out of fouls. We got whistled 26 times and UNI went 27-33 from the line. UNI was only whistled 14 times and we went 11-13 from the line. UNI had three score more than 20 points in the game led by Emerson Green’s 26, which was sixteen points over her average. We got clobbered on the boards 39-22. Their bench only scored 11 in the game to our 37.

UNI is currently 63 NET 57 RPI 85 SOS.

Tale Of The Tape:

                             UNI        SIU

PPG                      74.4       71.3      

Pts Allowed         64.4       76.1

FG%                      .437       .407

FG% OPP             .394       .434

3pt%                     .333       .347

3pt % OPP           .297       .365

FT%                       .676       .680

Rebounds            37.3       36.9

Reb OPP              36.6       40.1

Assists                  13.6       14.3

Turnovers           12.3       14.4      

T/O Forced          15.1       17.7

Steals                   7.3         10

Blocks                  3.9         4.9

Offensive Rtg     45th       98th

Defensive Rtg    126th     296th

Pace of Play        67th       17th

Panthers Dramatis Personae –

Grace Boffeli  6-1 Sophomore Forward- 16.2 ppg 8.9 rebounds per game 52.2% FG

Maya McDermott – 5-6 Sophomore Guard 14.7 points 3.5 assists per game 91% FT

Emerson Green 5-10 Sophomore Guard 10 points a game 34% from three.

Cam Finley 5-9 Senior guard 8.6 points per game.  

What’s Up With Us:

We get no favors in scheduling by having to make the Iowa trip on the final weekend of the season.

It was nice to see us beat the shit out of a Valley opponent. Our 105-59 win over Evansville on Senior Day was good to see after the rough going we’ve had this season. Although, we could be four wins better with one-possession losses to UIC, Missouri State and twice to league-leader Illinois State. In Coach Kelly’s presser she mentioned the Promise Taylor re-classification, but hinted she could come back next year. (More on our player eligibility after the Valley Tourney.) Taylor’s triple double against Evansville (20pts/11boards/10 blocks) was pretty awesome, even though The Valley basically gave her a “oh-yeah, a player had a triple-double (yawn)” mention in the conference's weekly recognition. Ash Jones posted her 12^th 20-point game of the season. We are tied for sixth with UIC going into the final week of play. UIC is at home with Belmont and Murray. Murray is two games back of us. Sixth place would be nice, as that would be one spot higher than we were predicted. But, I’m afraid that we would have to split this weekend to get that. As of today, we are a 20 point underdog at Drake on Saturday. We’ve looked much better these last few games. Ball movement, help side defense combined with our relentless on-ball pressure could result in an upset. Ya never know!

GO DAWGS!!!

Southern started okay. Down 2 after 1. UNI down a key starter. Then Cam Finley goes on an 8-0 run. Southern down 32-24 6 left in the 2nd. 

Halftime.

SIU 39

UNI 39

Southern is looking like a different team. Jones with 13, Taylor with 10 and Love with 9. 

UNI starts the 3rd on a 10-0 run. 

After 3

SIU 55

UNI 63

Jones has 20. Not much bench production from either team.

Final

SIU 76

UNI 85

Jones with her 13th 20+ point game 22 pts. Taylor with 19 & 8. Holmes 13 & Love with 11.  Shot waaaayyy to many threes. 9-32. Outscored at the FT line 14-9.

That 10-0 run to start the second half hurt us. UNI with 4 in double figures. Tough loss.

Murray beats Valpo. Racers now a game back of us. UIC down by 16 at halftime to Belmont.

SIU 11-17 (8-11) at Drake 18-9 (13-6)

Saturday March 4th, 2pm at Knapp Center

Streaming ESPN3

Audio Saluki Sports Network/95.1 Steve FM

WarrenNolan.com Prediction: Drake -22

Major Implcations For Drake -

Other than this being Senior Day - This game is HUGE to Drake in regard to Valley tournament seeding. Drake wins and Missouri State loses at UNI, Drake finishes fourth via the NET tiebreaker and avoids Thursday.

Last game with us they beat us in a game we were in until the fourth quarter where they outscored us 24-9. We were up five after the first, up one after three, then we had a poor shooting fourth -  2 for 15 and lost by 14. 87-73.

Drake back on Thursday night – They hammered Missouri State 83-63. 

They are 53 NET 66 RPI 97 SOS.

Tale Of The Tape:

                             DU        SIU

PPG                      78.7       73.6      

Pts Allowed         65.4       74.4

FG%                      .473       .428

FG% OPP             .367       .439

3pt%                     .328       .337

3pt % OPP           .322       .374

FT%                       .710       .692

Rebounds            43.7       35.9

Reb OPP              32.9       38.5

Assists                  20.9       15.6

Turnovers           17.9       14.2      

T/O Forced          14.9       17.4

Steals                   8.7         9.9

Blocks                  5.8         4.8

Offensive Rtg     40th       95th

Defensive Rtg    50th       311th

Pace of Play        T-17th   T-17th

Bulldogs Dramatis Personae –

Maggie Bair 6-3 Senior forward 16.3 ppg 8.5 rebounds and 614 FG%.

Grace Berg 6 foot Redshirt Senior 12.2 ppg .475 3 pt FG%.

Katie Dinnebier 5-8 Sophomore guard 11.3 ppg and 5.5 assists per game.

Sara Gueldner  5-9 Senior guard 10.3 points per game

Anna Miller 6-3 Sophomore forward averaging 2.3 blocks per game.

SIU Notes…

Well -  Final regular season game. Other than the first few minutes of the 3^rd quarter, we looked really good against UNI in a nine point loss. For us to have any success against Drake, we have to keep the ball in front of us. We did that pretty well last time, as we forced Drake into 19 turnovers and only lost the rebound battle by one.

Ashley Jones has moved into second place in scoring average in The Valley with her 13^th 20+ point game at 18.4 points per game average in conference games. Promise Taylor had a good game after her triple-double performance against Evansville with 19 & 8. She wasn’t credited with a block although I counted three in the game.

Our seeding issues: We win, UIC loses (They’re hosting Murray) we finish 6^th and get Valpo on Thursday. We lose, UIC loses; (or even if Murray loses) Murray claims the six seed outright or via NET tiebreaker and we fall to the 8^th seed and play Evansville on Thursday. Either way – if we win Thursday - we will have to play Belmont or UNI in the quarterfinals.

GO DAWGS!!!

Well - we're screwed. No Ashley Jones today - "coaches decisIon". But Shemera Williams is back .

20-16 Drake after 1. Refs loving thier whistles. Drake with 12 free throws. 

Damn. 

Halftime 

SIU 32

DRAKE 43

Taylor playing like a woman on mission. 11 points 4 boards 4 blocks. We have SIX players with two fouls. Being out rebounded 27-16.

Oh yeah...Drake 17-22 from the line. We're 5-6

So far today: ISU Redbirds tie Belmont for co-champs. ISU-R gets #1 seed. Belmont 2 

Bradley wins a game beating Evansville!

UIC up on Murray at the half. UIC wins we are the seventh seed. 

End of 3

SIU 48

Drake 70

Outscored 27-16 in the 3rd. Bulldogs with 17 assists on 22 baskets. 

Final

SIU 68

DRAKE 91

Taylor 17 & 5 blocks. Williams 15. Mason 10. Drake with 22 assists. 25-33 from the line. Don't think Jones would have made a difference. 

Looks like UIC is going to beat Murray. We get the 7th seed. I think we'll get Evansville on Thursday? Bracket will drop later.