SIU women’s basketball coach Dana Eikenberg has made it clear that wherever the Salukis’ senior duo Erica Smith and Jasmine Gibson goes, the team follows.

The Salukis will play Bradley at 7:05 p.m. today at the SIU Arena, the third game of a four-game home stand.

SIU is coming off wins in its last two games, following an eight-game losing streak. After both Smith and Gibson struggled during the Salukis’ slide, they have combined to average 37.5 points per game in SIU’s last two wins.

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‘They’re our leaders and when those two feel good, everybody else feels good,’ Eikenberg said Sunday after the Salukis (6-12, 2-7 MVC) toppled Missouri State, 69-58.

Gibson has scored 43 points in the last two games, rebounding from one of the worst stretches of her career at SIU. During the fifth, sixth and seventh losses of the Salukis’ eight-game slide, Gibson averaged five points per game, five rebounds per game and shot 29.2 percent from the field.

Those numbers are a stark contrast to her season averages, which are 12.9 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game and a 50.5 shooting percentage.

After Sunday’s game, during which Gibson scored a season-high 23 points, Smith said Gibson was playing smoother and more confidently than she had when she was struggling, and Gibson agreed.

‘I’m playing with a lot more confidence because I’m getting it from my teammates and my coaching staff,’ Gibson said. ‘It’s all about putting in the extra time in the gym and I’m just trying to get back to the simple things, and when I take care of that, it shows in the game.’

Smith struggled during the early portion of SIU’s losing streak. During a four-game span from Jan. 2 through Jan. 15, Smith shot 31 percent, averaging seven points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Smith is SIU’s leading scorer with 13.9 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting while pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game.

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Eikenberg said after Sunday’s game that Smith and Gibson both attract a lot of attention on offense from opposing teams, but when they are struggling it becomes easy for opponents to double-team other Salukis.

But when Gibson and Smith are being aggressive and playing well, it lifts the play of their teammates to higher levels.

‘What they just need to be reassured of is they got great people around them, and when they do the things that they’re capable of doing, they’re good leaders because they lift everybody else around them up,’ Eikenberg said. ‘Those are signs of great players, and it was just kind of absent.’

The two straight wins have lifted the Salukis out of the cellar and into a four-way tie for seventh place in the Valley, with Wichita State, Evansville and Missouri State.

Today’s opponent, Bradley (14-6, 5-4 MVC), is currently fifth in the conference. The Braves have two players ‘- senior forward Monica Rogers and freshman guard Michelle Lund ‘- scoring more than 10 points per game, and a third ‘- sophomore forward Sonya Harris ‘- averaging just below that mark.

Lund, who averages 10.4 points per game, also connects on 41.6 percent of her threes, while Rogers and Harris do their damage down low.

‘I think they’ve just got multiple kinds of weapons, and that’s what’s made them have good success,’ Eikenberg said. ‘We’ve got to be able to keep a hand in Lund’s face. We’ve got to make her shot selection diversified. We can’t just give her the open three.’

Harris and Rogers combine to average 16 rebounds per game, and are a big reason why Bradley averages 7.8 rebounds per game more than their opponents, which is tops in the MVC.

The Braves beat SIU 73-49 in Bradley on Jan. 9, and in that game the Braves out-rebounded the Salukis by a 47-30 margin.

‘They really have made getting to the boards a real important aspect for them,’ Eikenberg said. ‘And for us, we got to lock them down.’

Ward to rest with injury

Eikenberg also said SIU junior guard Lacie Ward has a stress fracture in her foot, and will be rested for a few weeks.