SIUE women's basketball team hands St. Louis U. first loss
EDWARDSVILLE – CoCo Moore scored 12 of her team-high 21 points in the fourth period Monday as SIUE women's basketball squad gave Saint Louis its first loss of the season 71-64.
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SIUE improved to 4-5 while Saint Louis dropped to 7-1.
"I thought we were resilient," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. "It was a great basketball game. These are the fun games and the games that players like to play in. The biggest difference tonight was our defense. We came up with some big plays late that we needed."
Moore made all three of her shots from the field in the fourth period and drained 6 of 8 shots from free throw line in SIUE's first home contest in nearly a month. The senior guard also tied her career best with five steals, including three in the fourth period.
"Her aggressiveness on that was huge," Buscher said. "She had five steals on the night, but those last couple and her defense there were the most important ones."
SIUE's return to the Vadalabene Center was a fantastic one for the Cougars as four players scored in double figures. Lauren White and Gwen Adams scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Donshel Beck added 11. The SIUE bench outscored the SLU bench 30-7.
"We felt like they were playing behind the post, and we wanted post touches," said Buscher. "We thought we had good opportunities to attack the basket."
The game was tight for the first 39 minutes of the contest. With 12 lead changes and 16 tie scores, both SLU and SIUE kept their fans on the edge of their seats.
"We felt like we could attack the basket, especially off of ball reversals," said Buscher. "They did a great job attacking the basket offensively and reading what was open."
But it was SIUE that would prevail in the final minute of the game. Moore hit six of her seven made free throws in the final minute. SLU would turn the ball over three times and miss a three-pointer in the final 35 seconds of the game. With mostly free throws, SIUE ended the game with an 8-0 run.
"This win allows us to build from here and keep believing in each other," said Buscher. "I loved how this game was a back-and-forth game, and it wasn't that one team took control. Learning how to do that and believing in each other down the stretch and bounce back in the end was huge."
SLU, led by 24 points from Sadie Stipanovich, led the Cougars at the halftime mark 33-30. Jenny Vliet's three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the second period sent the Billikens to the locker room with the lead.
The Cougars also were fending off Jackie Kemph, who scored 15 points on six shots in the lane. Denisha Womack added 10 for SLU.
SIUE will continue this home stand Friday with a 7 p.m. contest against IUPUI.
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