EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Michaela Herrod and Raven Berry both finished with double-doubles Monday as SIUE women's basketball defeated Austin Peay 72-61 at the Vadalabene Center.

Herrod finished with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Berry turned in a balanced 14 points and 13 rebounds. It was the sixth double-double of the season for Berry and the first for Herrod. The last time SIUE had two players with a double-double in the same game was last season against Austin Peay when Sydney Stahlberg and Berry completed the feat.

The Cougars matched their win total from all of last season with the victory. SIUE improved to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"I thought it was a total gut-check game. It was important that whether we won or lost this game, we needed to play how we played all season. We needed to play with a lot of energy and be great teammates. We needed to be excited for each other and have a lot of enthusiasm. They all do a little something to add to the win," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens.

The Lady Govs fell to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in the OVC.

Four players scored in double figures for SIUE, including a team-high 17 points from freshman Katie Hempen and 12 from sophomore Jazmin Hill.

"Tierny (Austin) and Katie both bring so much energy off the bench and do such a great job when they get on the floor. They just play with a different type of energy," said Levens.

Austin Peay's Kaitlyn Hill also had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Whitney Hanley led all scorers with 25 points.

The game was truly back and forth for the first eight minutes. The Cougars scored the game's first eight points, and Austin Peay answered with a 17-3 run to take its biggest lead of the game 17-11 with 12:30 to play. The two teams exchanged leads four times before Austin Peay led at the break 34-32.

SIUE became more aggressive on offense and defense after falling behind by two at halftime.

The Cougars took five charges from four different players in the game. SIUE forced 26 turnovers from Austin Peay and accumulated 29 points off those turnovers.

"They understand what needs to be done, and they know they need to settle in defensively and create some offense. It definitely shows maturity and a firm understanding of how we want to play," Levens said.

Hempen got the Cougars started in the second half with a three-pointer with 17:52 to play that gave SIUE a 35-34 lead. Austin Peay's Jasmine Rayner then hit one free throw to tie the game 35-35 with 16:02 to play.

SIUE followed that with a 10-0 run capped off by a three-pointer by Hill, who is now alone in fifth all-time in career three-pointers. The Cougars pulled away by as much as 15 points before settling for the 11-point victory.

SIUE shot 48.3 percent (14-29) in the second half and 41.3 percent (26-63) for the game. Austin Peay shot 42.4 percent for the contest (25-59) but was hampered by 27 fouls.

"We did a good job of buckling down. Part of that was getting matched up defensively," added Levens.

The Cougars now take to the road for a pair of games. SIUE travels to Jacksonville State for a 7:45 p.m. game Monday followed by a 7 p.m. contest next Wednesday at Tennessee Tech.

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