NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team will remain home for a special "Pack the Arena" game against the Southern Illinois Salukis.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (6-9, 0-4) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (8-8, 4-1)
When: Sunday, January 14
Tip-Off: 2p.m.CT
Location: Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena
THE SERIES
• The Redbirds hold a 55-43 record over the Salukis and are 29-22 at home, 22-21 at SIU and 4-0 at a neutral site.
• The teams most recently met on Feb. 24, 2017 at Southern Illinois and the Birds dropped 57-48.
• This is the first time Coach Gillespie and Coach Stein will meet.
REDBIRD BITS
• Illinois State most recently dropped to Missouri State 56-50 on Friday after a thrilling fourth quarter comeback.
• The Redbirds are four games into conference play and own a 6-9 overall record. The last time the team captured six wins this early was the 2012-13 season. The 2012-13 team held a 9-4 record 13 games into season, in 2016-17 the Birds went 4-9.
• Viria Livingston captured her first career double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds against
Valparaiso on Friday. Despite her efforts, the Redbirds suffered a 56-50 loss. Livingston is ranked seventh in the MVC, averaging 6.1 rebounds per game and also ads 7.0 points per game.
• Paige Saylor continues to frustrate her opponents, averaging 2.8 steals per game. On Friday she snuck away with four steals and scored a career high of 15 points. Saylor leads the MVC in steals per game and has a season and career high of 7 steals in a game.
• Green Goods and Katrina Beck have each had noteworthy performances this season, earning them MVC Player of the Week Honors.
• Megan Talbot, Livingston and Green are all in the top ten of the MVC for rebounding.
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS
• Southern Illinois faced the Bradley Braves on Friday and captured a 63-62 victory.
•The Salukis' 3-0 start in MVC play marked the second time in three seasons, and the third time since the MVC began play in 1992, that SIU has started Valley play with three-straight wins.
• SIU recorded a season-high 11 blocks in the 64-45 win over Indiana State on Dec. 31, with six different Salukis tallying at least one block.
• Kylie Giebelhausen made her 400th career field goal against Drake on Jan. 7 and became the 23rd Saluki to make at least 400 career field goals in a career. She's tied with Molly McDowell for 22nd all-time.
• Freshman Abby Brockmeyer averages 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She has tallied 17 blocks, averaging 1.13 per game, which is second most by freshman in the MVC.
PACK THE ARENA
Illinois State will offer free admission to all fans when it hosts Missouri Valley Conference opponent Southern Illinois in its annual "Pack the Arena" game on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m. at Redbird Arena.
In honor of 25 years of women's athletics in the Missouri Valley Conference, a special recognition of alumnae will take place, featuring former Redbird athletes over the years.
The Alamo II will also be set up on the concourse selling the newest Redbird apparel and Popcorn and MVC cookies will be available at the concession stand for just $1. The game will also include a special halftime performance by the Gamma Phi Circus.
DEFENSIVE STRENGTH
The Redbirds lead the MVC and are 12th in the nation for their defensive efforts, holding their opponents to 55.1 points per game. They are 11th in the nation for opponent field goal percentage, with their opponents averaging 34.5 percent from the field.
BATTLE FOR ILLINOIS
Four in-state university basketball programs have the opportunity to earn bragging rights to a new trophy as the "Battle for Illinois" rivalry series was introduced by the respective athletic departments for Bradley, Illinois State, Loyola and Southern Illinois. Both men's and women's basketball teams for the four universities will accrue points in featured head-to-head competition only. One point will be earned for each win. In the event of a tie, the following will determine the Battle for Illinois winner: 1) Head-to-head record among the tied schools; 2) regular-season conference record; 3) overall regular-season record (conference and non-conference); 4) combined tournament wins; 5) average margin of victory (rivalry series games).
NEXT UP
The Redbirds travel to Indiana next weekend for a pair of MVC games as they take on Evansville on Friday and Indiana State on Sunday.
