By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State held Southern Illinois to just 17 second-half points, pulling away for a 66-48 win in front of about a thousand fans at Redbird Arena who braved blizzard-like conditions to see the long-time MVC rivals battle on Sunday. The 17 points, coming on 5-of-20 shooting, were just two shy of the school-record low of 15 set against Kentucky Wesleyan in 1965.

The Salukis (4-11, 0-2) jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes of play, but the instant offense proved to be an illusion. Southern made its first two 3-point attempts but missed its next 11 tries.

Desmar Jackson shoots over Reggie Lynch.

After the sluggish start, the Redbirds (8-6, 1-1) used a 17-4 run to seize control and never look back.

“I thought we might come out slow and we did,” said ISU second-year head coach Dan Muller. “Getting back late after a tough overtime loss (at Missouri State), no crowd, an earlier game — those can be tough. We did not come out with much urgency. I’m happy we got it fixed quickly.”

Southern stayed close in the first half until a late flurry by the Redbirds lifted them to a 38-31 halftime advantage. Zach Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 1:16 to go in the half, and Bobby Hunter was fouled with 0.4 seconds to go and made all three of his free throw attempts. Lofton broke out of a shooting slump and finished the game with 18 points, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. In the previous seven games, he was 6-for-34 from outside the arc.

Desmar Jackson scored 19 points to lead Southern, but his teammates combined to make only 10-of-40 shots from the field and no one else scored in double figures.

For a brief moment, it looked like SIU would make the game competitive in the second half. Jackson scored seven points on three breakaways to draw Southern within 41-38 with 14:46 remaining. The offense went into a deep funk, though, with just one bucket in the next eight minutes.

“We just quit,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “When you come over there in that huddle, it’s awful. You have guys pointing fingers at each other. I had to slap their knees one time just to get them to look at me in the face. It’s an awful feeling. We have some issues right now.”

The Salukis seemed to wear down in the face of ISU’s full-court press, turning the ball over eight times in the half. The three starting guards combined for two assists and seven turnovers, as they struggled to navigate the Redbirds’ zone defense.

“I think what Dan has done is really impressive, bringing this many new guys in and changing the style of play he’s used to playing,” said Hinson. “You have to give him credit for what he’s done with these guys.”

The Redbirds lost all five starters from last year’s team and return only two minor role players in Kaza Keane and Nick Ziesloft.

“We have the least-experienced team in the country,” Muller said. “If I hold them accountable enough and get them to do the right thing, they’ll gain confidence, because the right thing works. We’ve been very hard on them throughout the year, and the habits we’ve developed are showing.”

Two players who Southern typically relies upon to score — Anthony Beane and Jalen Pendleton — each made just one field goal and combined to go 2-for-13 from the field. Hinson said there would be changes when the Salukis play at Loyola on Wednesday.

“I promise you we won’t start the same lineup,” he said. “We will shake it up. I’m going to play guys that want to play hard, guys that want to give effort and do what we ask them to do.”

Hinson described it as an adversarial relationship with his players at the moment.

“We’re in a fight for sure,” he said. “I told them I just checked my contract, I know who is going to win.”

Southern Illinois (2-6) vs. Chicago State (1-8)
Date	Friday, Dec. 20, 2013
Time	6:05 p.m. CT
Location	Carbondale, Ill. – SIU Arena (8,339)
Video	Saluki All-Access
Radio	Saluki Sports Network
Notes	Southern Illinois  | Chicago State
Season Stats	Southern Illinois | Chicago State
Live Stats	Gametracker | Valley Scoreboard
Social Media	@SIU_WBasketball

By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Saluki women’s basketball will look for its second straight victory against Chicago State at the SIU Arena on Friday night, with tipoff scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at the SIU Arena.

Southern Illinois Salukis (2-6)
Head Coach: Cindy Stein • First Season • 284-212 overall (17th season) • 2-6 at SIU

Chicago State Cougars (1-8)
Head Coach: Angela Jackson • 11th Season • 127-204 overall (12th season) • 121-184 at CSU

RADIO INFORMATION
Play-By-Play: Bryce Williams (second season)
Color Commentary: Logan Lee (first season)
Station: WVZA 105.1 FM (audio also available on Saluki All-Access)

SIU VS. CHICAGO STATE
Southern leads the all-time series versus the Cougars 5-1, dating back to the first matchup in 1976. SIU is a perfect 3-0 against Chicago State in Carbondale, 1-1 in Chicago, and 1-0 in neutral site games. The Cougars’ lone win over SIU came Dec. 14, 2008, when CSU outlasted Southern in overtime, 71-68, in Chicago. The series began in 1976 with a regular season matchup in Carbondale on Feb. 21, 1976 (W, 79-50), and a postseason duel at the IAIAW State Tournament on Mar. 4, where Southern won 80-39 in Macomb, Ill.

SOUTHERN VS. WAC SCHOOLS
SIU is 6-1 all-time against schools from the Western Athletic Conference. The Salukis are a combined 5-0 against San Diego State (3-0), Hawaii (1-0), New Mexico (1-0) and San Jose State (1-0), with SIU’s only loss coming against Southern Methodist on Dec. 1, 2000, when the Mustangs topped SIU, 86-80, at the SMU Hoops for Cure Classic in Dallas. This will be the first time Southern will face Chicago State as a member of the WAC — which CSU joined in 2013.

SIU 69, CSU 66 — DEC. 29, 2012
The Salukis had to hold off a late charge by Chicago State to secure a 69-66 victory over the Cougars on Dec. 29, 2012, in Chicago. Southern built up to a 19-point advantage with 10 minutes to play, but the Cougars came charging back by taking advantage of Saluki miscues and putting Southern on the foul line — where it went 12-24 in the second half. CSU cut the lead to 68-66 with four seconds remaining when it fouled Cartaesha Macklin for two shots. Macklin kept it a ball game by only sinking one free throw, but it proved to be enough. Macklin had a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 10 assists, as did Azia Washington with career-high totals of 17 points and 17 rebounds.

DETROIT 85, CHICAGO STATE 64
The Cougars had three players in double figures — which included a double-double from Chanel Wilson-Stewart (14 points, 11 rebounds) and 21 points from Paris Williams — but they couldn’t keep up with a hot-shooting Detroit team that sank 11-of-28 from beyond the arc in an 86-64 loss at the Toledo Invite. The Titans opened the game on a 10-0 run and, despite CSU making a few small runs of their own, were able to keep the Cougars at bay by at least nine points the rest of the way. Detroit had three scorers over 20 points that combined to shoot 11-of-27 from three, and the Titans outrebounded the Cougars 43-32.

SALUKIS OUTSHOOT EIU, 66-60
Southern rode its best shooting performance and its best overall team performance of the season to a 66-60 victory over Eastern Illinois on Dec. 16 at the SIU Arena. The Salukis shot 47.1 percent from the field, which included its best mark from beyond the arc this season of 33.3 percent (7-of-21). Dyana Pierre was a star for SIU on Monday with her 20 point, 10 rebound performance — her 13th career double-double and her fourth this season in eight games. However, SIU had three other scorers in double figures — Sidney Goins (12 points, 4-of-12 3FG), Ariel Haynes (12 points, 5-of-10 FG) and Azia Washington (11 points, 5-of-10 FG) — to ease the load off Pierre. Scoring was only part of the story Monday night, however. SIU’s work on the offensive glass in the second half and its defensive stymying of EIU’s Sabina Oroszova sealed victory for SIU.

HOME SWEET HOME
After a 1-4 road swing throughout November and the early part of December, the Salukis returned home in high fashion with a 66-60 victory over an offensively potent Eastern Illinois squad. Southern was impressive in every facet of the victory, head coach Cindy Stein’s first at the SIU Arena. The Salukis posted their best totals of the season in shooting percentage (.471), three-point percentage (.333) and three-point field goals (seven) — all while holding EIU leading scorer Sabina Oroszova seven points under her season average. In all three of SIU’s home games, the Salukis are shooting 40 percent or better from the field — as opposed to only two of SIU’s five road games where they’ve broken the 40-percent plane. Southern’s scoring margin at home against its mark on the road is just as stark. At home, SIU is at +0.3, but on the road the Salukis are -19.0.

PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK
Sophomore Dyana Pierre has been consistently remarkable for SIU all season, but her performance Monday night in SIU’s victory over Eastern Illinois was her most impressive thus far. Pierre recorded her 13th career double-double and her fourth this season in eight games with a 20 point, 10 rebound performance. The 20-point plateau is a career-high for Pierre, who also recorded two blocks to put her at 51 in her two year career — three shy of cracking the top-ten all-time at SIU. Pierre currently leads the conference in blocked shots (1.9 per game) and ranks second in both rebounding (9.4) and field goal percentage (.524).

TEAM EFFORT
While Pierre’s effort put SIU over the top, the consistent production from the rest of Southern’s roster was the true key to victory over EIU. Four players scored in double figures for only the second time this season and only the eighth time in the last two seasons. Sidney Goins (12 points, 4-of-12 3FG), Ariel Haynes (12 points, 5-of-10 FG) and Azia Washington (11 points, 5-of-10 FG) each contributed to the winning effort. Goins especially got the Salukis off to a hot start with two consecutive three-pointers to open the game. Walk-on sophomore Hannah Shores did her part as well as SIU’s starting point guard, dishing out a career-high seven assists and sinking six of her eight free throw attempts — all while not attempting a field goal. Before her turn as SIU’s starting point guard Monday night, Shores had attempted 5.7 field goals per game.

DOMINANT DUO
Southern’s inside sophomore duo of forward Azia Washington and center Dyana Pierre have been dominant in the post for the Salukis this season. Pierre, SIU’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, currently leads the MVC in blocks (1.9 per game) and ranks second in rebounding (9.4) and fourth in field goal percentage (.524). Washington, who has scored in double-digits each of her last three games, ranks eighth in field goal percentage (.468) and ninth in rebounding (6.6). In her last five games, Washington has shot 50.0 percent or better, and is 23-of-41 (.561) from the field.

BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore center Dyana Pierre is already within striking distance of the top-ten all-time at SIU in career blocks. After posting the fourth-most blocks in a single-season in school history in 2012-13 (36), Pierre stands within five blocks of the top-ten with 51 career blocks. Pierre currently has 15 in 2013-14 and averages 1.9 per game, right now the most in the MVC. At this pace, Pierre will record the third-most blocks in a single-season for SIU in 2013-14 and climb up to second all-time in career blocks.

STOUT DEFENSE
Southern, which came off of consecutive games of giving up more than 75 points, allowed only 37 points in a victory over the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on Dec. 2. UCA, which was averaging 67.0 points per game entering the contest, shot 25.9 percent from the field and their best player — Courtney Deuver (13.1 PPG) — was held to three points, thanks in large part to the superb defense of Dyana Pierre (11 rebounds, six points, three blocks, three steals). The 18 points UCA scored in the second half are the fewest allowed by the Salukis since Jan. 29, 2011, when Southern allowed only 14 to Indiana State in the first half, and 37 points are the fewest given up by SIU in a single game since Dec. 10, 1988 when the Salukis held Central Michigan to 32.

The Salukis also showed their defensive prowess on Dec. 16 versus Eastern Illinois when it shut down EIU’s leading scorer Sabina Oroszova. Entering the game, Oroszova averaged 18.3 points per game, but the Salukis were able to hold her to 11 points — which included starting the game 1-of-8 from the field and four points in the first half.

SHORE-ING UP
Walk-on sophomore Hannah Shores has made her presence known. Shores, a native of nearby Centralia, Ill., has scored 5.4 points and 2.4 assists in 24.5 minutes per game in eight games played and three starts. Shores earned her first career start at IPFW on Nov. 18, where she played 23 minutes and scored a career-high nine points. On Dec. 16 versus Eastern Illinois, Shores got her first start at point guard where she was efficient at running Coach Stein’s offense. Shores played a career-high 34 minutes, in which she dished out a career-high seven assists and scored six points all on free throws. Of Southern’s 51 attempts from the field, Shores did not take a single shot. Entering the game, Shores was attempting 5.7 shots per game.

By Scott Gierman
SIUSalukis.com 

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois’ best shooting effort of the year lifted the Salukis to a 66-60 win over Eastern Illinois Monday night at SIU Arena. However, it was strong offensive rebounding against EIU (3-6) that allowed the Salukis (2-6) to take control late in the contest and tally their second win in their last three games.

Dyana Pierre led SIU with a career-high 20 points along with 10 boards.

The Salukis knocked down a season-high 47.1 percent of their shots and hauled in eight of their 10 offensive boards in the second half.

“Offensive rebounding has been a huge point of emphasis for us all week,” SIU Coach Cindy Stein said. “We only had two at the half, and we talked to them about getting in there and getting some extra points somehow. They did it. They gave an excellent effort to get in there.”

With the score tied at 48-48 and just under 6:00 left in the game, Ariel Haynes’ offensive rebound led to a putback and a chance for a three-point play. Haynes missed the free throw, but Azia Washington cleaned the glass and banked it in extend the lead to 52-48. Southern did not trail the rest of the way.

On the very next possession, Dyana Pierre scored following an offensive rebound to give her her fourth double-double of the season and extend the lead to six points. Pierre finished with a career-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Southern put together a team effort with four players scoring in double figures. Haynes and Sidney Goinseach had 12, and Washington added 11. That made up for the lack of second-leading scorer Cartaesha Macklin who missed her first game of her career with a medical condition.

“I think a win like this is more important because we are missing so many key elements that we are used to having but they are out,” Stein said. “Knowing that they can win without a Cartaesha Macklin, Rishonda Napier or Alexus Patterson is huge for this team from a confidence standpoint.”

EIU’s Jordyne Crunk led all scorers and kept the Panthers in the game with a career-high 23 points on nine of 14 shooting from the field. In the second half, she had 17 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

The Salukis started the game hot from outside, hitting four of their first six three-point attempts to take a 12-6 lead into the second media timeout. The Salukis shot a season-high 21 three-pointers and made a season-high seven.

“We have the ability to hit some threes,” Stein said. “Sometimes it is a little tougher on some nights. You should shoot (well) at home. I don’t think we are going to score 100 points on anyone. Sometimes we have to work hard at (shooting), but it gave us a little boost.”

Eastern hit its first two field goals then missed 10 of its next 11 from the field before Crunk’s three-pointer cut the SIU lead to 14-9 with 8:44 left in the half.

SIU stretched the lead to 18-10 before EIU went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 20-20 with 2:23 left in the half. The Salukis quickly took back the lead on Pierre’s layup, and following Hannah Shore’s made free throw took a 23-22 lead into the half.

Southern Illinois kept EIU leading scorer Sabina Oroszova in check with only 11 points. She entered the game averaging 18.3 points per game after scoring a school-record 38 points in a game earlier this month. However, on Monday, she started the game one-of-eight from the field and had only four points at the half.

“I think Azia Washington did a great job (defending Oroszova),” Stein said. “Azia’s athletic, and she has good length. I think she just challenged every shot. She took her first cut away from her. We switched on her when we needed to, but Azia did a good job.”

The Salukis will try to make keep the momentum going when they host Chicago State on Friday in Carbondale.

“I feel pretty good going into Friday,” Pierre said. “We saw how hard we can play, so Friday we are going to do the same thing.”

Well, this is awkward. At first glance, The Flyin’ Illini: The Untold Story of One of College Basketball’s Elite Teams figures to be a nice look back at Illinois’ 1989 Final Four team. And, in many ways, it is.

Here’s the link to the story in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Staff Report

The Morthland College Patriots picked up a exciting 86-84 victory over Benedictine (Springfield, Ill.) in weekend action at Max Morris Gymnasium in West Frankfort.

Carterville’s Drew Bonner nailed a 3-pointer with :03 seconds on the game clock and the Patriots trailing 84-83 to give Morthland the two-point win.  Morthland improves to 6-3 overall with the win.

Benedictine’s Nick Bennett, who had connected on five straight 3-pointers, missed a forced shot at the buzzer to seal the Patriots win.

The game featured a game of runs, with Morthland in a early game 12-0 run, then Bendictine went on a 14-point run to go ahead 48-44 at the 16:00
mark on the clock in the second half.  Morthland zoomed ahead on a 10-2 run to go up 64-58 with 10 minutes to go only to see the Bulldogs chew
their way to a 81-75 lead with three minutes left to play. Morthland closed to a 81-79 deficit at the 1:45 mark , then both teams battled to
the final seconds setting the stage for Bonner’s game-winner.

Will Carmickle netted 28 points to lead the Patriots, battling larger opponents all night.  Yavario Smith 21 first-half points, then was
shutout in the second half.  Roby Boatright and Clay Payne chipped in 15 and 14 respectively for Morthland. The Bulldogs’ Justin Smith led the way for Benedictine with 17.  The Patriots are now 6-3 on the season, with the NAIA- Benedictine Bulldogs falling to 4-6.  The Patriots next travel Tuesday night, Dec. 17 to St. Louis Concordia, then return home for the Dec. 20-21 Ron Herrin Classic at Max Morris Gymnasium.

Southern Illinois (1-6) vs. Eastern Illinois (3-5)
Date	Monday, Dec. 16, 2013
Time	6:05 p.m. CT
Location	Carbondale, Ill. – SIU Arena (8,339)
Video	Saluki All-Access
Radio	Saluki Sports Network
Notes	Southern Illinois  | Eastern Illinois
Season Stats	Southern Illinois | Eastern Illinois
Live Stats	Gametracker | Valley Scoreboard
Social Media	@SIU_WBasketball

By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Saluki women’s basketball returns home for the first time in five games to host Eastern Illinois at the SIU Arena on Monday night, with tipoff scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Southern Illinois Salukis (1-6)
Head Coach: Cindy Stein • First Season • 283-212 overall (17th season) • 1-6 at SIU

Eastern Illinois Panters (3-5)
Head Coach: Debbie Black • First Season • 3-5 overall (first season) • 3-5 at EIU

RADIO INFORMATION
Play-By-Play: Bryce Williams (second season)
Color Commentary: Logan Lee (first season)
Station: WVZA 105.1 FM (audio also available on Saluki All-Access)

SIU VS. EASTERN ILLINOIS
Southern leads the all-time series versus the Panthers 36-6, dating back to the first matchup in 1961. Since the Panthers joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 1996, though, the two schools have only played twice with a home-and-home in 2001 and 2002. This game will be the first time the Panthers have come to Carbondale since 2001 (W, 76-65).

Sophomore Hannah Shores

SOUTHERN VS. OVC
Overall, SIU is 58-31 against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference — which includes a 2-0 mark versus Eastern Illinois since they joined in 1996. The Salukis only hold a losing record against three other teams — Tennessee Tech (10-13) and Austin Peay (1-4) and SEMO (1-5) — and hold a winning or even record with the remaining six schools: Murray State (35-5), Tennessee State (3-1), Eastern Kentucky (2-0), Western Kentucky (2-1), Middle Tennessee State (1-1) and SIU Edwardsville (1-1).

SIU 82, EIU 67 — DEC. 7, 2002
Three Salukis scored in double-figures as Southern cruised to an 82-67 victory over EIU in Charleston, Ill., on Dec. 7, 2002. SIU’s Tiffany Crutcher scored a career-high 20 points in her third consecutive game with at least 18. Jodi Heiden (18 points) and Molly McDowell (15 points) both chipped in with double-digits as well en route to Southern’s first three-game winning streak in five years. SIU began the game on a 24-11 run, and despite some impressive runs by the Panthers to cut the deficit, Southern was able to keep EIU within at least a four-point buffer the remainder of the game.

EIU 71, BRADLEY 67
Panther forward Sabina Oroszova tied two school records (points and field goals made in a single game) in EIU’s tight 71-67 victory over Bradley on Dec. 4. Oroszova scored 38 points on 16-of-29 shooting from the field, while hauling in 15 boards for the Panthers. Nearly 75 percent of EIU’s scoring came from Oroszova and guard Katlyn Payne, who added 15 points and seven boards to the effort.

REDHAWKS FLY PAST SALUKIS, 72-50
The Salukis couldn’t recover from a 15-2 Redhawk run to close the first half, and SEMO rode that momentum all the way to a 72-50 victory over SIU on Dec. 4 at the Show Me Center. Southern fell behind 18-8 to start the game, but clawed their way back in and tied Southeast 20-20 with 6:32 to play in the first half. SEMO responded with a 15-2 tear to close the half and Southern was never within 11 the remainder of the game. Azia Washington (14 points, eight rebounds, 7-of-13 FG) and Dyana Pierre (12 points, six rebounds) recorded two more excellent performances for SIU in the post, but it wasn’t enough to overcome SEMO’s 42.9 percent clip from the field.

DOMINANT DUO
Southern’s inside sophomore duo of forward Azia Washington and center Dyana Pierre have been dominant in the post for the Salukis this season. Pierre, SIU’s leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, currently leads the MVC in blocks (1.9 per game) and ranks second in rebounding (9.3) and fourth in field goal percentage (.515). Washington, who has scored in double-digits each of her last two games, ranks tied for eighth in rebounding (6.9) and ninth in field goal percentage (.462). In her last four games, Washington has shot 53.8 percent or better, and is 18-of-31 (.580) from the field.

BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore center Dyana Pierre is already within striking distance of the top-ten all-time at SIU in career blocks. After posting the fourth-most blocks in a single-season in school history in 2012-13 (36), Pierre stands within five blocks of the top-ten with 49 career blocks. Pierre currently has 13 in 2013-14 and averages 1.9 per game, right now the most in the MVC. At this pace, Pierre will notch the third-most blocks in a single-season for SIU in 2013-14 and climb up to second all-time in career blocks.

QUICK TURNAROUND
Despite SIU’s impressive post performance, Southern has lost the rebounding battle in four straight games after starting the season off by out-rebounding two of its first three opponents. After being +16 through two games, SIU has followed that up with an even performance at IPFW, -12 at Illinois, -15 at Marshall, -4 at Central Arkansas and -20 at Southeast Missouri.

STOUT DEFENSE
Southern, which came off of consecutive games of giving up more than 75 points, allowed only 37 points in a victory over the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on Dec. 2. UCA, which was averaging 67.0 points per game entering the contest, shot 25.9 percent from the field and their best player — Courtney Deuver (13.1 PPG) — was held to three points, thanks in large part to the superb defense of Dyana Pierre (11 rebounds, six points, three blocks, three steals). The 18 points UCA scored in the second half are the fewest allowed by the Salukis since Jan. 29, 2011, when Southern allowed only 14 to Indiana State in the first half, and 37 points are the fewest given up by SIU in a single game since Dec. 10, 1988 when the Salukis held Central Michigan to 32.

UNSTOPPABLE
Sophomore center Dyana Pierre is off to an incredible start for the Salukis. Pierre currently leads Southern in scoring (12.6 PPG), rebounding (9.3 RPG), shooting (51.5 percent) and free throw attempts (34). The Port St. Lucia, Fla., native has posted a double-double in three of SIU’s seven games thus far, and in the Missouri Valley Conference she currently ranks in the top-15 in blocked shots (first, 1.9), rebounding (third), field goal percentage (fourth) and scoring (14th).

PIERRE CAN’T MISS
Sophomore Dyana Pierre has been on fire from the field in 2013-14, as she currently sits at fourth in the conference with a field goal percentage of 51.5. In a three-game stretch from Nov. 8-18, Pierre shot 19-of-28 (.679) from the field in SIU losses vs. Wright State, Austin Peay and IPFW. In seven games, Pierre has shot 50 percent or better five times. At Marshall, Pierre scored an impressive 10 consecutive Saluki points over a five-minute span. So far, Pierre has shot 35-of-68 from the field in her 31.0 minutes per game.

MACKLIN CLIMBS ALL-TIME LIST
On Nov. 18, junior guard Cartaesha Macklin became the 28th player in school history to surpass the 1,000 career point milestone with her 12-point performance at IPFW. Macklin, who currently sits at 1,031 career points, is within 62 points of cracking the top-20 all-time at SIU. Macklin will next pass Ann Kattreh for 21st all-time. Kattreh, who played at SIU from 1983-87, scored 1,060 points in her Saluki career. In two seasons at SIU, Macklin has averaged 480.0 points per season. If she were to remain on that pace, Macklin would rank fifth all-time at the end of the 2013-14 season. Thus far, Macklin is averaging 10.1 points and 3.1 assists per game — the latter of which ranks eighth in the MVC.

EASY BUCKETS FOR MACKLIN
So far in 2013-14, Macklin leads the Salukis with a 23-of-32 (.719) mark from the free throw line — which included a 10-of11 performance against Austin Peay at home on Nov. 12. In her time at Southern, Macklin has been no stranger to the free throw line. In 66 games at SIU she’s made 312 free throws in 427 tries, which both rank third all-time at SIU. Macklin is on pace to become SIU’s all-time leader in free throws made this season and be within 30 of the top-mark in free throws attempted at the end of the season.

SHORE-ING UP
Walk-on sophomore Hannah Shores has made her presence known in the first five games of the 2013-14 season. Shores, a native of nearby Centralia, Ill., has scored 5.3 points in 23.1 minutes per game in six games played and two starts. Shores earned her first career start at IPFW on Nov. 18, where she played 23 minutes and scored a career-high nine points. She is currently 5-of-13 from beyond the arc — the most three-point baskets for the Salukis.

John 14:1

Whom do you trust when you’re being overcome by anxiety?  Who is trustworthy when your life is in distress?  How can you trust anyone when you’re full of doubt?  Today’s scripture gives us some insight and direction.

In John chapter 14 and verse 1 we read these words from Jesus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.”  In the middle of the most trying time of their lives, Jesus asked his followers to trust him just like they trusted God.  He said that trust would calm their troubled hearts.

That same principle can work on your team.  We trust people who have proven themselves in the past.  As people show themselves trustworthy, we will take risks with and for them.  Their trustworthiness calms our hearts and gives us confidence.

Jesus said, “Trust in God, trust also in me.”  I am saying, “Trust in God, trust also in your coaches.  Trust in God, trust also in your teammates.”  They’ve proven themselves to be trustworthy, so take some risks with them.  Give yourselves to them in total abandon.  I promise that as you trust yourselves to those who are trustworthy, you’ll find that your confidence will grow and your once troubled hearts will experience new peace.

Let today’s competition be filled with trust, confidence and peace.