EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Despite double-doubles by Raven Berry and Michaela Herrod, the SIUE women's basketball team had its four-game winning streak come to an end in a 73-70 loss to Morehead State.

The Cougars fell to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead State improved to 8-15 overall and 5-6 in the OVC.

Berry was a force the paint with a career-high 26 points at the Vadalabene Center Monday. She also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for her 20th career double-double. Herrod, meanwhile, made it her sixth career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

SIUE would score 40 of its 70 points in the paint and picked up 20 points off the bench. Tierny Austin scored nine points and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the field.

"It was definitely a point of emphasis to get the ball into the paint," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens.

"Raven had a great game. Michaela and Tierny both did some good things but they needed a little more help. When Raven has a bounce in her step, I don't think you can defend her one-on-one. She is too good, and too big and strong. She did a great job tonight," she added.

The Cougars did not have their usual rhythm from beyond the three-point line, shooting 2 of 16 for the game. Morehead State, however, flourished on the other end of the court shooting 8 of 14 from beyond the arc.

"We did not play well for the first 36 minutes of the game. That's disappointing. We definitely did not shoot well from the perimeter and that's hard to overcome," added Levens.

Courtney Lumpkin led all scorers with a career-high 32 points, the most by a Cougar opponent all season. She shot 11 of 22 from the field, including 3 of 4 from three-point range, and added 7 of 11 free throws.

Foul trouble followed both teams. Herrod and Morehead State's Linda Dixon were the only players to foul out but the two teams combined for 50 fouls which resulted in 28 free throws each.

In the first half, Morehead State took an 11-point lead 27-16 on a layup by Ashar Harris. The Cougars went on an 8-0 run behind a pair of free throws from Herrod and three layups by Berry. The Eagles stretched the lead out to 34-28 by halftime.

"We were not aggressive enough against (the press) early. When we broke their press, we slowed the ball down and waited, and that's not what we wanted to do," Levens said.

The Cougars started the second half on fire by scoring 11 of the first 12 points, with Berry and Herrod leading the way again. Courtney Kenner continued to be the assists standout with nine, which is one shy of her career best.

SIUE held the lead until the 6:44 mark when Dixon hit a three-pointer in the middle of a 12-0 run for Morehead State.

SIUE pulled within two points in the final 20 seconds of the game. Lumpkin hit three of four free throws in the final 13 seconds to hold off SIUE's comeback.

"Tonight, we needed two more players step up and hit some shots for us, and that did not happen," said Levens.

The Cougars now have a week to get ready for a rematch with Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks come to the Vadalabene Center next Monday for a 7 p.m. game in SIUE's OVC home court finale.

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