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UPCOMING FOR SHU: The Saints (24-6) will play in the NAIA Tournament for the sixth time in program history. All six bids have come since 2013 under Sue Syljebeck. SHU is 1-5 all-time in the tournament; its lone win is a 77-59 first-round victory against Tennessee Wesleyan. SHU will match up with 12th-ranked Rio Grande (Ohio), champions of the River States Conference. Rio Grande (28-3), a winner in 10 straight games, is led by RSC Player of the Year Ella Skeens. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Rio Grande.

 

Rio Grande will also host a first-round matchup between Grace (Ind.) and No. 19 Pikeville (Ky.) at 8. Winners of Tuesday's games meet Wednesday at 7.

The NAIA National Championship Opening Round divides the 64-team field into 16 four-team pods. The surviving 16 will advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa.

WHAC TOURNAMENT: SHU entered the WHAC Tournament as the two-seed and had a whirlwind of a week. The quarterfinals, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22, were moved to Thursday, Feb. 23, after an ice storm swept through Michigan. That game went to double-OT with SHU emerging a 93-83 victor over seven-seed Northwestern Ohio. Then, with Friday's semifinals backed up to Saturday, Feb. 24, the Saints matched up with three-seed Rochester before a power failure at the SHU Fieldhouse late in the first half. The teams resumed play on Sunday, Feb. 25, and the visiting Warriors took a 93-83, double-overtime victory. You read that right: two double-OT games that ended 93-83. Rochester went on to knock off Indiana Tech in the WHAC finals the following night; both had secured automatic bids. SHU did not find out its fate until the selection show on Thursday.

 

HEAD COACH: Sue Syljebeck is in her 19th season as the head coach of the Saints women's basketball program. She is the program's winningest coach with a career record of 359-227. Syljebeck currently ranks 22nd on the NAIA Women's basketball active coach wins list. She will be assisted this year by Deb Ray, Sara Chrenko, Niesha Lowe, Mo Rammuny, Dan Brooks and Tee Watters.

 

 

RECORD WATCH: Peyton Banks broke the SHU career scoring record on November 30th, surpassing Laura Panozzo's previous mark of 1,812.  She reached the 2,000 point plateau on January 25th.  On February 18th, she eclipsed the 1,000 rebound plateau becoming the second player in SHU women's basketball history to have at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.  Her 1,028 career rebounds are 71 away from the lead in that category.   Her 706 field goals are 2nd best in SHU history -- only nine off Panozzo's 715.   Banks has moved into 4th place in 3-pt FG.  On February 23rd, she eclipsed the 2,100 point plateau and currently has 2,176 points.  She set a new single game high in points in SHU basketball history with 47 points, breaking the previous mark set by Sierra Calhoun who had 41 points.  She also set the SHU basketball career point record for men and women, eclipsing the previous mark held by Brent Tucker of 2,122. 

 

Sha'kyia Parker surpassed the 1,000 point plateau on January 4th.  She has now moved into 10th place in the SHU record book with 1,238 points.  She sits six points back of the 9th place total in SHU history.  She was the 13th women's basketball player at Siena Heights to reach 1,000 points.  She has now moved into 3rd place in SHU history for career 3-point field goals, currently sitting at 200.  Her 544 3-pt field goal attempts place her in 4th place, 36 attempts behind the 3rd place mark.

 

Allye Minor has 269 career assists, placing her 8th best in SHU history, 12 assists back of the 7th place total.

 

ALL-WHAC HONORS: Banks and Parker were named to the All-WHAC First Team while Kayla Hinton was selected to the Second Team. Banks is a four-time All-WHAC First Team honoree while Parker is a two-time First Team player.

 

 

2013
Briar Cliff 94, Siena Heights 77

2014
Siena Heights 77, Tennessee Wesleyan 59
Saint Francis (Ind.) 83, Siena Heights 59

2015
Ozarks 88, Siena Heights 69

2017
Morningside 90, Siena Heights 73

2020
Bryan 72, Siena Heights 68

 

 

Points: Sierra Calhoun, 25, vs. Briar Cliff (2013)

 

Field goals: Sierra Calhoun, 9, vs. Briar Cliff (2013)

 

Free throws: Demi Russell, 11, vs. Morningside (2017)

 

3-pointers: Jaaliyah Arrington, 4, vs. Morningside (2017)

 

Rebounds: April Watson, 17, vs. Morningside (2017)

 

Assists: Grace Howrigon, 10, vs. Tennessee Wesleyan (2014)

 

Steals: Morgan Warfield, 4, vs. Ozarks (2015)

 

Blocks: Alexxis Knannlein, 3, vs. Tennessee Wesleyan (2014); Alexxis Knannlein, 3, vs. Saint Francis, Ind. (2014)