 | Women's Basketball |
Athletics Women's Basketball | |
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 Amber Shelton |
January 9, 2008 Cougars Head To Rockhurst, Drury EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- With last week's victory against Quincy a memory, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's basketball team heads to Rockhurst and No. 8-ranked Drury looking to extend its five-game winning streak. SIUE, 9-2 overall and 2-1 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, defeated Quincy this past Saturday in a game that featured 16 different lead changes. Whitney Sykes (Pontoon Beach) went 11 for 19 from the field, scoring a career-best 32 points. Currently, the Cougars have one of the most productive and efficient offenses in the GLVC. Amber Shelton (Edwardsville) and Sykes have accounted for nearly half of SIUE's 76.5 points per game. SIUE features the third best offense and the third best scoring margin at plus-12.3 points per game. Amy Austin (Jeffersonville, Ind.) is ranked second in the conference with a 2.57 assist to turnover ratio. The SIUE offense will be challenged when it plays Rockhurst Thursday at 5:30 pm in Kansas City, Mo. After Rockhurst, the Cougars turn around and travel to Springfield, Mo. to play Drury on Saturday at 3:15 pm. SIUE women's head coach Wendy Hedberg refuses to let the fact that Rockhurst is winless in GLVC competition and expects this to be a difficult challenge for the Cougars. "Rockhurst plays hard and scrappy every game, plus they are very tough at home. Any time you are playing a team that is looking for their first conference win they are going to be tough, especially at home," said Hedberg. Going into the matchup against Drury, the Cougars are hoping that history is not on their side. With a series record of 0-5, the Cougars are looking for their first victory. Drury knocked the Cougars out of the NCAA tournament last year. "We have always played well at their place, but we have not been able to get it done yet. Hopefully that will all change this year," said Hedberg. -siue- |