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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Playing
with no fear, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville stood
tall against its Atlantic Coast Conference opponents only to drop
an 83-72 contest to the University of Miami at the Vadalabene
Center.
SIUE Coach Amanda Levens
emphasized to her players before the game to play the player and
not the uniform.
"I'm proud of the effort
tonight. We fought until the end," said Levens.
Miami shot an impressive 61.8
percent from the field and didn't pull away from the Cougars until
the final minutes of the contest. SIUE was down by two at halftime
and cut the lead to one point in the second half.
The Hurricanes used their
noticeable size advantage to pound the ball inside, scoring 50 of
its 83 points in the paint.
Ashley Sours, 6-foot-5-inch
center, came off the bench for Miami and scored a team-high 16
points and added four blocks.
Miami, which also picked up 15
from points from Shenise Johnson, finished with 10 blocks
overall.
The Cougars, now 5-19, could
leave the court feeling positive against the 12-10 Canes.
Jenny Wuest led SIUE with a
game-high 19 points and was one of four Cougars scoring in double
figures.
Kate Affourtit pumped in 14
points, including three three-pointers. Madison Meade matched
Affourtit in three-pointers and finished with 11 points. Ashley Bey
added 12 points and six assists.
"Our girls battled tonight,"
said Levens.
The Cougars played better ball
control than the Hurricanes, forcing 23 turnovers by Miami. SIUE
committed 19.
The Cougars are now idle until
Feb. 19 when they travels to North Dakota for a 6 p.m. game in
Grand Forks, N.D.
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