The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Tough break for Salukis

While many students look forward to Thanksgiving as a break from the SIU grind, Dana Eikenberg and the women's basketball team's real work will be just beginning.

Eikenberg makes her debut as head coach for the Salukis Friday in the KCRG TV-9 Hawkeye Challenge, hosted by the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa, which plays in the Big 10 Conference, has won its past four season-openers and will host the tournament for the 19th time. The Hawkeyes have won 15 of the 18 previous tournaments and five of the last six.

Fortunately for the Salukis, their roster has been boosted to eight healthy women with the return of senior Lecretia Akines and junior Amy Hayden. Akines dislocated her left thumb and Hayden strained a tendon in her shin, but both have been cleared to play.

SIU will need all the help it get against Iowa, a team that finished 16-13 last season with a difficult schedule in a difficult conference. In the past five years under head coach Lisa Bluder, the Hawkeyes have made NCAA appearances three times.

Eikenberg said the Salukis would attempt to counteract Iowa's triangle offense, Phil Jackson's offensive scheme of choice, which led to nine NBA titles.

Basically, three players form a triangle on one side of the court and a two-man game plays out on the other. The triangle leads to quick cuts and passes and discourages double-team situations. The defense has to read and react quickly.

Eikenberg said it is a difficult offense for a smaller team such as the Salukis to defend against.

"It's the crux of everything they do," Eikenberg said. "We can't give them second attempts, we really have to be aggressive."

SIU will need to pull down every board it can, but senior center Jamie Cavey will stand in the Salukis' way. Eikenberg said Cavey is talented at turning and scoring off the glass. Cavey scored in double figures 25 times last season to attest to Eikenberg's assessment.

Eikenberg said she's looking for a unified effort from the Salukis against Iowa.

Communication and eye contact will provide SIU with the kind of defense Eikenberg wants and expects to play.

"We're going to try to go in and make some people's heads turn a bit," Eikenberg said. "We don't want to go in and roll over and die just because we're expected to."

After the Salukis survive the Hawkeyes - win or lose - their next game in the tournament on Saturday will test their mettle as well.

SIU will face either Northern Illinois or Missouri, both of which will provide no breaks for the Salukis. Eikenberg did not have a preference about which team she would like to see action against, saying each would pose a challenge.

On one hand, Eikenberg said Missouri probably has more returning players than the Huskies. But she also said Cindy Stein, head coach of the Tigers, is one of her best friends. "That's always an interesting catch-22," Eikenberg said. "You root for Missouri except for when they play against you."

While Missouri, a member of the Big 12 Conference, does have eight returning players, it lost five seniors from last year's squad. They have a young but talented team led by one returning senior, Megan Roney. Roney had the best three-point percentage on the team last season, shooting 9-of-21 for 42.9 percent.

Eikenberg is more confident with her chances against Northern Illinois.

The Huskies went 12-16 last year and finished fourth in the Mid-American Conference. The team lost four starters after last season, and Eikenberg says their success hinges on the Huskies' guards.

"I'd like to think we could be competitive with Northern Illinois," Eikenberg said. "On any given day we could be in the mix at the end of the game."

In any case, the tournament will be a very difficult introduction to the Salukis' non-conference schedule.

Whomever the Salukis play in the second game will be looking to stomp a team that went 3-24 last season, and senior guard Danette Jones knows the competition will be tough.

"We're going to have focus, definitely," Jones said. "If we make mistakes we'll just have to make it up on the other end of the court."

After the tournament, the Salukis will hop on the bus for a jaunt to Madison, Wis., in preparation for their next non-conference opponent, the Wisconsin Badgers.

Wisconsin will be the Salukis' second Big 10 opponent only three games into the season, Nov. 22.

Eikenberg said she thinks Wisconsin is still trying to find its identity. The Badgers went 10-17 last season under first-year head coach Lisa Stone. They have four returning starters aiming to provide Stone with her first winning season at Wisconsin.

Wisconsin will play up-tempo basketball, and Eikenberg said the Badgers will look to jump out on them early.

But Eikenberg said she wants to be more physical and controlling against Wisconsin, where communication will be the key to prevent the Badgers from scoring.

The Salukis finally receive hosting duties against Tennessee Tech Nov. 28, a mere three days after Turkey Day. Eikenberg is confident her team will have recovered from the massive ingestion of butterball birds in time for the Golden Eaglettes.

Eikenberg said Tennessee Tech is one of the most underrated programs around.

"They're going to play hard," Eikenberg said. "They aren't going to mess around."

Tennessee Tech has won the Ohio Valley Conference title 15 times since 1978 and is expected to do the same this year.

But being at home should help SIU put up a fight against the Golden Eaglettes.

So while Thanksgiving break will be a time of relaxation for many, the Salukis and Eikenberg will be faced with a hectic, but exciting week of travel and challenging opponents.

Eikenberg wouldn't have it any other way.

"This is what I love," Eikenberg said. "We're getting into it, and there is excitement brewing."