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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Sixth-year Southern Illinois women’s basketball head coach Cindy Stein revealed the Salukis non-conference schedule for the 2018-19 season, highlighted by a trip to Las Vegas to take part in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.

Five home dates, four away contests and two neutral sites games make up this year’s slate. Season tickets can be purchased later this summer by calling 1-877-SALUKIS or by visiting SIUSalukis.com.

The Salukis open the season with a pair of exhibition contests at the SIU Arena. Southern takes on McKendree on Oct. 26 before hosting Westminster College (Nov. 2) for its final preseason tune-up. SIU opens the 2018-19 regular season on Nov. 9 at UT Martin.

From there, the Salukis have back-to-back home contests. Southern hosts the SEMO Redhawks on Nov. 14 before returning home to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd on Nov. 17. 

The Salukis will then play four-straight games away from the SIU Arena. Southern is at Western Kentucky on Nov. 20, before traveling to Sin City for the aforementioned South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. 

This year’s South Point Thanksgiving Shootout will be one of the premier mid-season tournaments in the country, as the eight team field consists of five teams that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago (Arizona State, Baylor, Buffalo, Louisville, South Dakota State) and a sixth, Georgetown, that advanced to the second round of the WNIT. Southern will take on Hartford (Nov. 23) before tangling with the Arizona State Sun Devils on Nov. 24. 

The Sun Devils went 22-13 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, it will mark just the second time in school history that the Salukis have played in a mid-season tournament in Las Vegas- the 1990-91 Salukis split at the 7-Up Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., as Southern defeated San Francisco, 71-46 before falling to the hosts from UNLV.

SIU will conclude it’s four-game road slate at Saint Louis University on Nov. 29. It will be the first meeting between the Salukis and the Billikens since 2010. Southern leads the all-time series against it’s regional rival, 11-8.

Southern then returns home to tangle with a pair of Illinois state schools, as SIU takes on Northern Illinois on Dec. 7 before hosting Eastern Illinois on Dec. 8.

The Salukis next travel to Murray State on Dec. 18 before returning home to conclude their non-conference slate against IUPUI on Dec. 21.

The Salukis’ Missouri Valley Conference schedule will be released at a later date.

SIU Women’s Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Oct. 26 – McKendree (exh.)
Nov. 2 – Westminster College (exh.)
Nov. 9 – at UT Martin
Nov. 14 – SEMO 
Nov. 17 – Marshall
Nov. 20 – at Western Kentucky
Nov. 23 – Hartford (South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, Las Vegas)
Nov. 24 – Arizona State (South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, Las Vegas)
Nov. 29 – at Saint Louis
Dec. 7 – Northern Illinois
Dec. 8 – Eastern Illinois
Dec. 18 – at Murray State
Dec. 21 – IUPUI