SIU women look toward MVC tourney title

After staking claim to the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, the SIU women's basketball team is focused on winning the conference tournament crown — and the accompanying automatic NCAA tournament bid this weekend.

Driving to the title — Sophomore forward Jasmine Gibson sets up for a shot underneath the basket just before being fouled by Wichita State’s Kristin Donnell Saturday at the SIU Arena. The MVC regular-season champions are heading to the conference tournament in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend as the No. 1 seed.

The Salukis have won eight straight games — 17 of its last 19 — and are the No. 1 seed entering the tournament, which begins Thursday at Drake's Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The tournament runs through Sunday, March 11.

The Salukis, 20-9 overall, play their first tournament game at 12:05 p.m. Friday. They will face the winner of Thursday's game between Drake and Wichita State. SIU has won 20 games for the ninth time in the program's history and first time since the 1991-1992 season. The Salukis have also received votes in the USA Today poll the last four weeks.

Tournament semifinals are Saturday while the title game is at 2:05 p.m. Sunday. FSN Midwest and Comcast SportsNet Chicago are televising both semifinal games on Saturday, and also Sunday's championship game.

On Tuesday, three Salukis, junior guard Erin Pauk and sophomore guard Erica Smith were named second-team 2007 MVC Scholar-Athlete honors, while junior guard Jayme Sweere earned honorable mention honors.

All session tickets are $45. Adult and youth single-session tickets are $15 on Thursday and Friday, and $20 on Saturday and Sunday; student single-session tickets are $10 Thursday and Friday, and $15 on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets can be bought in person at the box office, or by credit card by phoning the Drake University athletic ticket office at 515/271-3647. Tickets may also be purchased through the SIU ticket office at 618/453-2000.