EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Courtney Kenner scored 10 points for SIUE in the final two minutes, but the Cougars couldn't make a final comeback in a 73-70 loss to Eastern Illinois Monday.

Kenner scored a team-high 16 points for the Cougars, which fell to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Eastern Illinois kept its OVC record perfect at 2-0 and is now 11-4 overall.

"She responded," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens of Kenner. "We kind of got on her early. We took her out for a lengthy stretch. She came in and gave us some great minutes, getting to the basket and finishing with contact. She did a great job defensively as she usually does."

Sydney Mitchell led the Panthers with a career-high 24 points. Ta'Kenya Nixon and Mariah King each finished with 16 points for Eastern Illinois. Nixon added a game-high eight assists.

Eastern Illinois took advantage of its edge on the free throw line. The Panthers hit their first 11 free throws and ended the game 23 of 27 overall.

SIUE and Eastern Illinois both shot well in the opening half from the field. EIU held a 40-35 advantage at the break after shooting 52 percent from the field (13-25). SIUE shot 51.9 percent from the field (14-27).

"We should have guarded better in the first half. We gave up way too many points. The second half they played fantastic," Levens noted.

Levens said EIU's Mitchell was a big reason for the five-point cushion at half.

"She always plays well here. She played well here last year. She didn't miss many open shots in the first half," Levens added.

The Cougars pulled within three points three times in the first nine minutes of the second half. EIU would try to pull away midway through the second half with Mitchell and King leading the way. The lead was 10 with 3:53 to play.

"You have to give them (EIU) a lot of credit for answering every time we made a little bit of a push," said Levens.

Raven Berry, who had 13 points, pulled SIUE to within six with a layup with 3:37 to play and a pair of free throws with 2:10 left.

"If we could have just taken the lead I felt like we could have held on to it," Levens said.

That set it up for Kenner who would score the next 10 points for the Cougars down the stretch, including a three-point play with seven seconds left that cut the lead to 71-70. The Cougars quickly fouled, and King sank a pair of free throws. Kenner had one more chance to put the game into overtime, but a 30-footer fell short at the buzzer.

"Our team played great in the second half. We executed and did so many positive things," said Levens. "I hurt for the team. When they work that hard and come up short that is really tough."

The Cougars next take to the road for a pair of games. SIUE travels to Tennessee State for a 5:30 p.m. matchup Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., and Southeast Missouri for a 7 p.m. game next Monday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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