Tuesday night’s SIU-Memphis women’s basketball game tips off at 6 p.m. inside Banterra Center.
It would be a good idea if the Salukis didn’t wait until about 6:30 p.m. to get involved.
Slow starts have been a primary thorn in their 0-3 opening to coach Kelly Bond-White’s first season. They have been outscored by a combined 35 points in first quarters, including 25-13 Saturday in an 84-69 defeat at Northwestern.
“We’re still trying to find that lineup,” said Bond-White on Monday morning. “What we did Saturday, we tried to go defensive but we still gave up those quick 3s. We need to do a better job at conversion (defense), finding our matchups and scrambling back.”
This is where SIU’s inexperience is holding it back. With four new starters and a bench mostly full of transfers still trying to find traction at their new school, the team doesn’t have the trust or chemistry last year’s team possessed.
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Abby Brockmeyer, Makenzie Silvey, Gabby Walker and Caitlin Link literally started hundreds of games in their careers. Brockmeyer and Silvey stuck around for five years, thanks to the COVID-19 year in 2020-21 that gave college players an extra season if they wanted it.
That extra year of game and practice experience most paid off on defense. They, along with Quierra Love, formed much more than the sum of their parts. Beat one and another would offer the necessary help.
They might not have always made shots, but they found a way to keep opponents from making theirs, enabling them to win the grinders that often lead to conference championships. That’s a place this year’s team needs time to find.
“When you play together for four years, you’re going to have that trust,” Bond-White said. “You didn’t see that in their first years, though. That chemistry has to be bought. If she beats you, your teammate is in place and that’s the trust that has to be established.”
Memphis (3-1) figures to offer a serious test to a team seeking answers. The Tigers are averaging 85 ppg and have won three in a row by a combined 117 points, although they’ve beaten no one of note. They’re coming off a 94-49 rout at SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.
Bond-White expects Memphis to “run and gun” and says her team has to be more aggressive itself offensively.
“We need to be ready to run efficiently,” she said. “They’ve been way too respectful of these defenses at times. I’m looking forward to seeing a more aggressive approach.”
She got that aggression from 6-5 Promise Taylor at Northwestern. Taylor asserted herself for the first time with 20 points off the bench. If that performance becomes a more consistent thing instead of an outlier, the Salukis will develop an identity offensively.
Bond-White is hoping the team’s guards figure out what Taylor has to offer.
“I think Promise woke up a little bit,” Bond-White said. “She had a possession where she stepped across the lane and demanded the ball. And they got it to her. When you get her the ball, you’ll see how unselfish she is.”
