EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Five seconds left. Tie Score. The shot is up, and that's a winner for the Cougars.
         It's the dream of every basketball player to hit the game-winning shot with just a few ticks left on the clock. It was Jessica Robert's turn on Saturday as she hit the game-winner in helping Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to a 75-73 triumph over Southern Indiana.
         SIUE, 9-10 overall and 4-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, picked up a much-needed victory on the road and broke a six-game losing skid.
         Southern Indiana fell to 12-5 overall and 6-5 in the GLVC.
         Robert, who began the week leading the nation in three-point field goal shooting percentage, struggles with 1 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc. But her final shot was the game winner and made her the game's leading scorer with 17 points.
         Julianne McMillen, starting in her first game since Jan. 4, returned to form with 16 points. She shot 4 of 5 from the field and was a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
         Tanya Guell added 15 for the Cougars while Amber Wisdom finished with 11.
         Jamie Truitt, Shajuan Lindsey and Ashley Green each scored 15 points for the Screaming Eagles.
         The game was a see-saw contest with 14 ties during the game. Both teams grabbed sizeable leads and promptly squandered them.
         Southern Indiana led by eight in the first half before Jaque Howard hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left to cut the lead to 39-34 going into halftime.
         The teams went back-and-forth in the second half before SIUE went on an 11-0 run behind a team effort in which five different Cougars scored.
         Sarah Schweers put SIUE up 71-61 with 3:42 to play on a layup on the paint. Southern Indiana then went on a 12-2 run in the next three minutes, briefly taking a 73-71 lead on a three-pointer by Truitt.
         Wisdom hit a jumper with 59 seconds left to tie the game 73-73. After Robert stole the ball with 32 seconds left, the Cougars called a timeout with seven seconds left to set up the winning shot.
         SIUE now returns home to the Vadalabene Center this week for a Thursday game against Quincy. Game time is 5:30 p.m. SIUE will be idle next Saturday.
                  -siue cougars-