CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University women’s basketball head coach Cindy Stein achieved her 400th career head coaching victory Sunday as the Salukis were victorious against Quincy University, 70-45. Stein, in her 25th season as a head coach, now has 118 wins in her nine-year tenure leading the Salukis.
“I’ve had some great players and I’ve had some great staff that have helped along that journey to 400,” said Stein.
With the win, Stein is the only active Missouri Valley Conference head coach to reach the 400-win plateau. Stein, the second-winningest head coach in SIU women’s basketball history, acknowledged the milestone while also emphasizing the season at hand.
“We still have a lot of games to win right now. But I do deeply appreciate it because I deeply appreciate the people that have been a part of all of those wins,” said Stein.
Southern is the fourth and final head coaching stop for Stein, who in July announced her intention to retire following the 2021-22 season. Stein has also coached at Missouri, Emporia State, and Illinois Central.
Stein inherited a program in 2013 that had not won more than 10 games in a season since the 2006-07 squad that won the MVC Tournament. The Salukis won 17 games in Stein’s second season at the helm, starting a streak of six-straight seasons with at least 15 wins before last year’s COVID-19 shortened season. Southern made the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the first postseason appearances for the program since the aforementioned 2006-07 season.
The Salukis were led in points by reigning MVC Player of the Week Abby Brockmeyer with 18. Makenzie Silvey also scored in double figures with 17 points. Southern passed the ball very effectively, with seven Salukis dishing out at least two assists. 44 of SIU’s 70 points came in the paint.
Southern was also active on defense, grabbing 13 steals and forcing Quincy into 21 total turnovers, which led to 28 points for the Salukis off said turnovers. Brockmeyer led SIU in steals with four.
The Salukis will be back in action Wednesday night on the road against UT Martin for a 7 p.m. tip. Southern will continue their road trip Friday night against Middle Tennessee State before returning home to host Illinois on Sunday, Dec. 19.