EVANSVILLE, IND. -- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's basketball won its third straight game Thursday, defeating Southern Indiana 81-75 in double overtime.
         Amber Shelton provided the field goal in the second overtime period with 39 seconds which put SIUE ahead for good. Whitney Sykes and Allison Fogle hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory for the Cougars. SIUE improved to 19-6 overall and 12-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
         The Cougars, who are idle Saturday when six GLVC games are in play, remain in first place by one-half game over Drury.
         Shelton provided the lift that kept SIUE alive with a career-high 37 points. She shot 13 of 24 from the field, finishing with her first double-double of the season. The junior forward collected a team-high 10 rebounds.
         SIUE struggled from three-point range, hitting a paltry 1 of 15 from behind the arc. Fogle hit SIUE's only three-pointer in the first half.
         The Cougars made it up on the free throw line, hitting 34 of 40 shots.
         Jasmine Baines led Southern Indiana with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Katie Thiesenhusen pumped in 18 points, behind five three-pointers, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Sabrina Brandon added 13 for the Screaming Eagles, which fell to 14-10 overall and evened its GLVC record at 8-8.
         The Cougars held on to a one-point lead at halftime and led by no more than five points in the half.
         The second half became Southern Indiana's game midway through the period. USI used a 17-3 run to take a 48-39 lead with 10:46 to play. SIUE responded with a 10-0 itself with eight points coming off free throws. After the eighth tie of the game, Thiesenhusen hit a USI three-pointer with 31 seconds left.
         Sykes, who needs 11 more points to become SIUE's 18th 1,000-point scorer, hit a jumper with 13 seconds left. Fogle immediately fouled Thiesenhusen, who missed the first free throw and made the second. With just three seconds left, Fogle put the game into overtime with a successful jumper.
         Neither team took control in the first overtime. Both teams were scoreless in the final 1:42 of the period. A pair of free throws by Shelton with 1:42 left was the 14th tie of the game.
         USI sprinted to a quick 75-71 lead on a pair of baskets by Missy Glaser and Baines. SIUE shut down USI's offense for the rest of the game, finishing with a 10-0 run capped by Shelton's 37th point and free throws by Sykes and Fogle.
         SIUE returns home next Thursday to face Missouri-Rolla in a 5:30 p.m. game. Next Saturday is Senior Day with the Cougars taking on Missouri-St. Louis at 5:30 p.m.
                  -siue cougars-