EDWARDSVILLE – On a night where Shronda Butts became the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000 points it was the Murray State Racers who left victorious, slipping past SIUE women's basketball 79-76 Wednesday at Vadalabene Center.
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SIUE dropped consecutive games for the first time since late December and is now 14-11 overall and 9-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Murray State improved to 9-14 overall and 5-7 in the OVC.
"I thought it was a good battle," SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher said. "This team is a good team, and we will bounce back. I've got a ton of confidence that the kids in the locker room will not feel sorry for themselves. They'll get back to work."
Butts scored 29 points to lead all scorers and was one of three SIUE players to score in double figures. She now has 1,001 points in less than two seasons with the Cougars.
"It's easy to watch a player like Shronda and realize how special she is," Buscher said. "I've coached her for so long and watched her through high school, and it's great to see how she's matured. Her level of competing is fun to watch."
Donshel Beck scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds. CoCo Moore scored 13 points and led the Cougars with nine boards.
A true back-and-forth game, the contest featured 12 lead changes yet was tied only once. The Cougars carried a 20-19 lead into the second period but trailed 38-33 at halftime, despite connecting on 51.9 percent (14-27) of their shots through the first 20 minutes.
SIUE built as much as a four-point lead in the third period when Beck knocked down a free throw to complete a three-point play with 5:20 left in the period.
Murray State scored six of the last eight points in the third period and led 57-56 heading into the fourth.
The visitors never trailed in the final period, but the Cougars made things interesting down the stretch.
With the Racers leading 77-72 following a Ke'Shunan James layup, the Cougars took over with 1:51 to play. Butts missed a three-pointer, but SIUE got the ball back thanks to a Murray State foul, when Butts missed another three, the Cougars' Gwen Adams hauled in the rebound. Sidney Smith tried to drive the ball, but her shot was blocked. Moore finally found the hoop from the left baseline to cut the lead to 77-74 with 43 seconds to play.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Moore was able to steal the ball but was stripped by Murray State's LeAsia Wright before she could get a shot off. Wright tried to keep the ball from going out of play and threw it to Beck, who laid it up and in for SIUE, trimming the Racers' lead to 77-76. It was as close as the Cougars would come.
"This team has a great desire to be successful," Buscher said. "We may have stubbed our toes tonight, but we'll be back."
James led the Racers with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kyra Gulledge scored 19 points and pulled in 11 rebounds. Abria Gulledge scored 12 points and Jasmine Borders scored 10.
The Cougars are off until playing host to Austin Peay Wednesday Feb. 17. The game will tipoff at 11:30 a.m.
"You see little bits and pieces, but I don't think we're playing our best basketball yet," Buscher said. "That's a good thing because it still means we have steps to take."
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