Cougars Edge Mastodons 61-54

Saturday, December 8

Edwardsville, Ill.

8:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

3-6

SIUE

6-4

IPFW

SIUE

12/8/2012 11:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The IPFW women's basketball team fell to SIU Edwardsville on Saturday night by the final score of 61-54. The Cougars ended the game on a 10-0 run to steal a victory away from the Mastodons.

Rebecca Bruner hit a jump shot that put IPFW up 54-51 with 4:54 left on the game clock, but SIU Edwardsville responded by scoring 10-straight points to record their sixth win of the year. Eight of the 10 points scored by SIUE came from the free throw line.

Amanda Hyde once again led IPFW in scoring as she ended the game with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 37 minutes of action. Erin Murphy also provided IPFW with a spark offensively as she scored all 13 of her points in the second half of action.

SIU Edwardsville had three players reach double figure scoring. Tierny Austin scored a game-high 16 points off 6-of-9 shooting, but the biggest difference in Saturday night's contest was the play of Raven Berry who scored 14 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds. Eight of Berry's 14 rebounds were on the offensive glass and she also made IPFW pay by hitting 10 of her 13 free throw attempts. CoCo Moore was another impact performer for the Cougars as she scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench for SIUE.

The game started off as a track meet as each team hit a 3-point field goal in the opening seconds of the first half. SIUE opened up a seven point lead with just under eight minutes to play after a CoCo Moore jumper, but Stefanie Mauk connected on her second 3-point field goal of the half moments later to cut the deficit to 22-20.

Berry hit two free throws with roughly three minutes to play and then added a field goal before intermission to give SIUE a 28-23 lead at halftime. The Mastodons faced a two possession deficit early in the second half, but were able to cut the lead to just two points near the second media timeout.

Free throws from Hillary Moore and Erin Murphy got the 'Dons within striking distance and then a 3-point field goal from Murphy put IPFW on top 48-46. Tierny Austin put SIUE on her back after IPFW grabbed the lead as she scored six-straight points after the Murphy 3-pointer. Hyde added a layup that made the score 52-51 IPFW, but the 10-0 run down the stretch sealed the victory for SIUE.

IPFW will return to action next weekend with a Big Ten battle at Michigan State on Sunday, Dec. 16. The Mastodons are 0-2 all-time against the Spartans. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

~ Feel the Rumble ~