Feb. 26, 2014
SIU Game Notes
Evansville Game Notes (Available by 5 p.m. Friday)
Missouri State Lady Bears (12-14/7-8 MVC) at
Southern Illinois Salukis (4-21/2-12 MVC), 6:05 p.m. Thursday
Evansville Purple Aces (11-14/6-8 MVC), 2:00 p.m. Saturday
Locations: Carbondale, Ill. | Evansville, Ind.
Sites: SIU Arena (8,339) | Ford Center (9,640)
Radio: SIU game on KTXR 101.3 FM | UE game on KWTO 98.7 FM
Live Audio: SIU | Evansville
Live Stats: | Evansville
Live Video: SIU | Evansville
The Missouri State Lady Bears (12-14, 7-8 MVC) begin a three-game road swing to close the regular season Thursday at 6 p.m. when they visit Southern Illinois (4-21, 2-12). Missouri State remains in a logjam for Missouri Valley Conference tournament seeding, as one-and-a-half games separate fourth-place Drake at 8-7 and seventh-place Evansville at 6-8.
MSU plays a pivotal game at Evansville on March 1 at 2 p.m. before finishing at Wichita State on March 9.
The Lady Bears are playing their final three games on the road for the first time since 2006. MSU played the same schedule in 2004 as well, following each time with an MVC Tournament championship.
Series Histories
MSU leads the all-time series with SIU 44-26, including a 17-15 record in Carbondale. The Lady Bears have scored at least 69 points in each of their last nine games against the Salukis, going 8-1 over that time.
The Lady Bears lead Evansville 32-10 in the all-time series, including a 12-8 record in Evansville. MSU has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
Scouting Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is 4-21 overall and 2-12 in MVC play with league wins coming against Bradley and Evansville. Dyana Pierre leads the Salukis in scoring (12.8) and rebounding (8.6) and shoots 48 percent for the season, while Azia Washington chips in 9.8 points per game.
As a team, SIU averages 55.6 points and allows 70.9 while shooting 36.7 percent overall, 21.8 percent from beyond the arc and 65.3 percent at the free throw line.
Scouting Evansville
Evansville is 11-14 overall and 6-8 in MVC play after winning its last four games. Freshman Sara Dickey averages 18.3 points to rank second in the MVC in scoring, while Mallory Ladd nearly averages a double-double with 11.8 points and 9.5 boards.
As a team, Evansville averages 66.4 points and allows 67.2 while shooting 37.1 percent overall, 28.0 percent on 3-pointers and 71.6 percent from the free throw line.
First Meetings This Season
Missouri State used a 19-0 run wrapped around halftime and a plus-15 turnover margin to defeat SIU by a 76-58 final on Feb. 2 at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears converted 29 Saluki turnovers into 36 points and had four players score in double figures, incluidng a career-high 11 points from Lexi Hughes.
Missouri State got 38 points from its bench and hit 10 3-pointers in an 87-70 win over the Purple Aces on Jan. 31 in Springfield. MSU used a 23-5 run in less than five minutes of game time to open up a 34-15 first-half lead, and got 17 points and seven steals from Tyonna Snow in just 16 minutes of action.
