CHARLESTON, Ill. – SIUE women's basketball ran its season-best winning streak to four games Saturday with a 75-59 road triumph over Eastern Illinois at Lantz Arena.
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The Cougars improved to 5-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 9-13 overall. Eastern Illinois dropped to 7-14 overall and 3-6 in the OVC.
"I am proud of the streak we are on, but it is still about the game in front of us," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.
Next up for the Cougars is a road contest at first-place Belmont. The Cougars and the Bruins face off Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee.
On Saturday, SIUE shot 71.4 percent from the field in the fourth period, hitting 10 of 14 shots to sail past the Panthers. After shooting 40 percent (10-25) in the first half, the Cougars surged in the second half to shoot 63.3 percent (19-30).
"What I liked today is that I challenged them to get out in the first three minutes of the second half and show aggressiveness. I felt like we did that," said Buscher.
Micah Jones turned in a season-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Lauren White matched her with 15 points.
"I thought Micah stepped up, came off the bench and gave us a spark," said Buscher.
Donshel Beck posted a strong performance with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five steals.
"Donnie (Beck) had a nice game. She gave us another level of energy and toughness to start the second half," added Buscher.
Eastern Illinois opened the game strong offensively, hitting 14 of 26 shots in the first half. However, the Cougars held a 29-28 at halftime thanks to hitting the boards for nine second-chance points.
Grace Lennox led the Panthers, scoring 10 of her team-high 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.
"We did a good job of taking care of the basketball late," said Buscher. "Once we started to take care of the ball we were able to spread it out the score."
SIUE opened the third period with the first six points and didn't look back.
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