EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE used a 27-0 run in the first half and raced past Jacksonville State 79-49 on New Year's Eve at the Vadalabene Center.

The Cougars closed out 2011 with an exclamation point in what was a balanced scoring effort. Freshman Katie Hempen came off the bench to lead the Cougars with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Sophomore guard Jazmin Hill added 11 points while Tierny Austin, also a freshman, scored 10.

"Both of our freshmen had a good game for us today. Tierny did a great job rebounding the ball and they both gave us great energy off the bench," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens.

SIUE improved to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play. It was SIUE's first OVC contest, and the Cougars did not disappoint the home fans who have waited for more than three years for a conference victory.

Jacksonville State, 3-12 overall and 0-2 in OVC play, held even with the Cougars for the first five minutes of the game. Brianna Morrow put the Gamecocks ahead 8-6 with a jumper with 16:13 to play. After the media timeout at 15:28, it was all SIUE.

"I thought it was important that we responded after we didn't start the game the way we wanted. The team did a great job of responding after the timeout where we challenged them," added Levens.

Austin put SIUE up 9-8 on a three-pointer 13 seconds after the media timeout. Hill hit her first three-pointer a minute later to put SIUE up by four. The lead continued to grow over the next 10 minutes of the game. Jacksonville State would not score again until 5:30 to play in the first half on a three-pointer by Bria'unna Bucker, who led the Gamecocks in scoring with nine points.

After hitting 14 of 26 shots in the first half, SIUE nearly matched the pace in the second half finishing the game shooting 27 of 52 from the field for 51.9 percent. The Cougars hit 8 of 19 (42 percent) from three-point range.

"Our defense kick-started our offense by getting stops at the other end. We did a good job limiting second shots and keeping them in front of us," said Levens.

All 11 SIUE players who entered the game scored. Nine recorded at least one assist and seven grabbed a steal.

SIUE won the battle on the boards 41-38 behind 11 from Michaela Herrod and eight from Austin.

"I thought our bench did a great job of giving us a quality spark in both halves. We started slow in the second half, but when we made a couple substitutions, they came in and gave us a huge energy lift," Levens said. SIUE's bench accounted for a season-high 46 points.

It also was the biggest SIUE victory since Levens' first game during the 2008-2009 season when the Cougars defeated Illinois-Springfield by 42 points.

"The scary thing for us is that we are going to have to go back to their place and play them, so to win by this much you know they are going to be motivated," added Levens.

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