Just 40 hours after the Evansville offense became just the second team this season to shoot above 50 percent against Illinois State, the Redbirds will face some potentially explosive offensive players in a 2:05 p.m. Saturday meeting with Southern Illinois.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp sees the primary Saluki weapons as perimeter threats Molly McDowell, Dana Pinkston and Danette Jones.
The way McDowell, Pinkston and Jones are able to hurt teams from the outside will be a challenge, said Yopp. Molly is such a good outside shooter and has a very accurate jump shot off the dribble.
Southern Illinois is 6-16 overall and 2-11 in the Missouri Valley, but the Salukis have split their last four games. The Salukis and Redbirds have met more than any two Valley members--68 according to the Redbird record book--and the visiting team has won the last four, including Illinois States 65-56 decision Jan. 23 in Carbondale. SIUs last league road win was at Illinois State, 64-51 Feb. 17, 2002 in Redbird Arena.
The SIU victory began a current string of four straight wins on the road. But Saturdays Senior Day game--the final home game of the season honoring Sharon Blade, Stacey Nickerson and Steph Reichle--is one the Redbirds want to take back control of their own fate in the race for the final two spots in the eight-team Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in March.
Yopp believes defense is what has won on the road for the Birds ... and the lack of consistency on defense has been part of the home woes.
When were on the road, in a place like SMS (Hammons Center), and theres 5,000 people screaming at us, we crank up the defense, said Yopp. On the road, in adverse conditions, we have done that ... we have done that for 40 minutes. Its interesting--the louder the crowd, the harder we play. When we can lock down our opponent (on defense), our offense is better.
The Redbirds, 7-16 overall, 5-9 in the Valley after that 70-63 Thursday loss to Evansville, have continued to get strong offense off the bench. Non-starters have scored 51 percent of Illinois States points this year, with sophomore Jaci McCormack (8.2 ppg) and junior Zora Skrabalova (7.5 ppg) leading the way. That depth got an added boost Thursday with the return of sophomore Michelle Harakas, who missed three games with a foot injury.
If the Redbirds win and Evansville loses at Indiana State, the Birds will either be eighth, or tied for seventh if Northern Iowa beats Wichita State. Six teams have between six and nine losses in the Valley, so the final tournament lineup may not be determined until the leagues last game, Southern Illinois at Wichita State on March 9. A win at Illinois State would keep Southern Illinois tournament berth hopes alive.
Illinois State finishes the regular season with three games on the road, beginning Thursday at Drake.
