The Salukis finish up their preseason schedule Saturday against Hungarian club team

Factoid:The Salukis will battle Hungary at 5:05 p.m. Saturday at the SIU Arena

SIU women’s basketball coach Lori Opp warned that last Sunday’s exhibition opponent, Goldstar, would be a tough competition.

Advertisement

The Salukis narrowly downed the St. Louis-based club squad 80-73, yet the problems they encountered aren’t unfixable, which means Saturday’s exhibition against Hungary will allow for some fine-tuning.

“After the first game, one of the major concerns was that we waited quite a while to get the ball stopped [on the fast break],” Opp said. “That is something we are working on in practice. I was pleased with our rebounding, but we need to be constantly going for the offensive rebound. And sometimes our shot selection was iffy.”

Like the previous exhibition, the contest will also allow coaches to see who should be in the starting five come Nov. 23, when the Salukis open the season at home against DePaul.

But this time around Opp doesn’t want to see a 50-32 halftime lead diminish in the second half, as was the case against Goldstar.

“Again, it is an opportunity for us to experiment as a staff and try different lineups,” Opp said. “We can try a different combination of people. Of course we want to see progress from the last exhibition game and play a better second half. But again we can help that as a staff by the combinations of people we put in.”

Saturday’s contest is the ideal setting to perfect the transition style of game that the coaches prefer for this squad.

Sophomore point guard Christine Perry, who is vying with junior-college transfer Dana Pinkston for the starting job, said most drills in practice are designed to get the ball up the floor as quickly as possible.

Advertisement*

Perry said she thinks she has worked diligently this preseason on taking care of the ball and moving it up the court.

Opp, however, thinks Perry, along with a few other Salukis, stepping up at certain times in practice or in games is just as important to the team’s success.

“Different people at different times have stepped up as leaders and been vocal,” Opp said. “[Senior guard] Hillary Phillips is a returnee that has been more vocal. Chris Perry has talked a lot and been vocal, and I know she is anxious to be on the floor more consistently to provide more leadership.”

Perry knows that as a point guard, leadership is in the job description.

“I think as a point guard, you are a floor leader,” Perry said. “It is my job to keep the team positive. If somebody makes a bad pass, I try to make sure they don’t think about it. I don’t want them to dwell on the negatives.”

While Hungary will show SIU where it needs to improve before the first regular-season contest, it also provides a nifty comparison against two squads the Salukis will face this season.

“This Hungarian team has played some common opponents,” Opp said. “They played the University of Kentucky and they play Tennessee Tech [Thursday]. That will give us a good idea of where we stack up.”

Reporter Zack Creglow can be reached at [email protected]