FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Sophomore Jazmin Hill hit her 100th career three-point basket as the SIUE women's basketball team picked up a much-needed road win Sunday afternoon defeating IPFW 72-57 at Gates Sports Center.

"It was great. It is always tough to win on the road," SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens said. "Any win on the road is a positive thing."

The Cougars improved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 on the road with the win. IPFW dropped to 4-6 overall and 4-3 on its home floor.

Hill, ranked No. 8 all-time in three-point field goals made, connected on her fourth of the game for the monumental shot at a critical junction with 5:40 remaining in the second half.

"The last one Jazmin hit was huge because we were in a drought and definitely needed a basket," Levens said. "It was a huge shot for us. Congrats to Jazmin. It says a lot about her work ethic, and we are extremely proud of her and happy she is on our team."

The two teams tied the score three times in the opening five minutes of the game before SIUE went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-10 lead after Hill hit a pull-up jumper.

The lead for the Cougars increased to 21-13 as Hill and Melia Duncan connected on back-to-back three pointers with nine minutes to play in the half.

IPFW closed the gap to within one twice in the remaining minutes of the first half but would get no closer as Hill hit her third three-point basket of the opening stanza giving SIUE a 34-27 lead at halftime.

Levens was not pleased with the effort out of the break as the Mastodons scored after a Cougar turnover forcing a timeout in the first minute still holding a 34-31 advantage.

"We talked to the team, and they really responded," Levens added.

The Cougars used the timeout to vault to a 41-33 lead behind three pointers from Katie Hempen and Courtney Kenner.

SIUE held IPFW to one point over a stretch of more than six minutes as it built its largest advantage of the game 51-36.

The lead dropped to six points before Hill hit No. 100, and the Cougars cruised to the 72-57 victory on the road.

Hempen led all scorers with 17 points going 4 of 6 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Hill finished with 14 points on 4 of 10 shooting from behind the arc. Michaela Herrod also reached double figures with 10, and narrowly missed a double-double ending with a game-high nine rebounds.

"Everybody that dressed helped the team win today," Levens added.

Stephanie Rosado led the Mastodons with 16 points while Anne Boese and Amanda Hyde scored in double figures with 11 and 10, respectively.

"Our team did a great job of getting back to a positive assist-to-turnover ratio," Levens said. "That is something we did at the beginning of the year, and when we take care of the ball and hold our opponents under 60 points, we have a chance to win every game."

The Cougars will head to Nassau, Bahamas, for the 2011 Bahamas Sunsplash Shootout against a pair of teams from Georgia Dec. 19 and 20.

"We have to ace our finals first, but then we will start getting prep for Georgia Tech and Georgia State," Levens added.

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