Carbondale Downs Edwardsville in a Battle of SIU Women

SIUE played its final non-conference tune-up, falling to 6-6, after a 68-63 loss to SIU Carbondale Friday night at the Vadalabene Center.

The Cougars now turn their attention to Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE begins league play with three consecutive road games beginning with Belmont in a 2 p.m. game Dec. 29.

Raven Berry led SIUE in scoring with 14 points and added nine rebounds against the Salukis, 2-8. Tierny Austin and CoCo Moore added 11 points each.

SIUE forced 23 turnovers against the Salukis but weren't able to take full advantage. The Cougars shot just 30.3 percent (20-66) from the field.

"We struggled scoring tonight," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.

The Cougars erased a nine-point halftime deficit (34-25) and took the lead on a pair of free throws by Tierny Austin with 11:08 to play in the game. SIUE held a three-point lead at 57-54 on a layup by Austin.

"We came back and, I thought had a tremendous fight late. We just have to continue to work hard," said Buscher.

SIUE used second-chance opportunities to make the comeback. After having no second-chance points in the first half, the Cougars picked up 11 in the second half.

Cartaesha Macklin put the Salukis in a good position when she hit a pair of three-pointers. She scored nine points in an 11-0 run for SIU Carbondale that put the Salukis ahead 65-57 with 2:25 to play. Macklin would lead all scorers with 18 points.

SIU Carbondale shot 46 percent from the field and was even better from three-point range, hitting 9 of 18 treys. Rishonda Napier hit three three-pointers and scored 13 points. Alexus Patterson added 11 points off the bench for the Salukis.

SIUE pushed once again with a pair of layups by Berry and two free throws by Courtney Kenner. SIU Carbondale's Napier would make it a two-possession game with a pair of good free throws with 8.9 seconds left on the clock.

Teutopolis's Jessie Wendt played for Edwardsville, but did not score any points.