SIUE gets back on victory track over break

Kumar Bhooshan
Sports Editor

After a three-game losing skid in early December, the only things on Coach Wendy Hedberg's Christmas wish list were some Lady Cougar victories to get back on track for a schedule that includes 15 straight conference games.

SIUE finished the break with wins over Pittsburgh State, Missouri-Rolla and Indianapolis University.

The only Cougar loss came at the hands of the Lady Norse of Northern Kentucky University.

SIUE played host to Pittsburgh State University at the Vadalabene Center to start the break schedule.

The Lady Cougars badly needed a win and got one from the Gorillas, winning 71-70 in a game that went down to the wire.

In the first half both teams came out firing, shooting close to 50 percent from the field and a combined 17 for 18 from the line. That set the tone for the close battle .

At the half the Lady Cougars went in to the locker room with only a three-point lead.

The second half proved to be much the same with both teams shooting close to 50 percent from the field.

The game would come down to errors and the Lady Cougars caused 22 Gorilla turnovers while they coughed the ball up 17 times.

Despite being out-rebounded by the Gorillas, the Lady Cougars were victorious.

Sarah Cook led all scorers with 22 points and five rebounds.

The Lady Cougars next traveled to the Bullman Multi-purpose Building in Rolla, Mo., to try to chip away at the Lady Miners of the University of Missouri-Rolla.

The game started off slowly with SIUE only shooting 40 percent from the field and the Lady Miners shooting a dismal 25 percent from the floor.

Going into the half, the Lady Cougars trailed 25-16.

At half-time Hedberg's Lady Cougars came out smoking, scoring 30 points. Senior guard Misi Clark scored 14 straight points to cave in any hope for a Lady Miner victory.

Clark finished the night with 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Center Crystal Gladson finished the night with 13 points and nine rebounds to help SIUE claim its fifth win of the season, winning 62-50.

After two straight wins the Lady Cougars' balloon was deflated by the Lady Norse of Northern Kentucky University.

Coming into the game the Lady Norse held the top spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 4-1 conference record and a 10-1 overall record.

The Lady Norse proved why they are among the top teams in the nation, handling the Lady Cougars in easy fashion 88-61.

In a frustrating loss, SIUE committed 17 turnovers and was unable to force any Lady Norse turnovers.

Northern Kentucky recorded four separate players with double-digit scoring.

Michele Tuchfarber led all scorers with 15 points.

Amanda Buldtman tried to be a spark for SIUE, scoring 14 points off the bench , and teammate Clark totaled 11 points on a night the Lady Cougars were just outmatched. The Lady Cougars finished the break with a victory over the University of Indianapolis Lady Greyhounds to get closer to the .500-mark in the conference.

The lone highpoint for the Lady Greyhounds was a 17-rebound night from 5 ft. 10 in Elizabeth Ramsey.

Ramsey also finished the night with 18 points.

As usual, SIUE went into half-time with the game relatively close and pulled away in the second half, scoring 18 points and holding the Lady Greyhounds to just seven points after the break.

Clark led the way again for the Lady Cougars with 15 points, followed by Megan Grizzle with 13 points.

When all was said and done, SIUE claimed another conference victory winning 60-49.

The Lady Cougars are currently 6-4 overall and will be going into a GLVC opponent-filled schedule for the remainder of their season at 2-3 in the conference.