Box Score EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Michaela Herrod hit the game-winning free throw with 5.8 seconds left in overtime as SIUE women's basketball outlasted UT Martin 67-66 Saturday at the Vadalabene Center.
SIUE evened its overall record at 10-10 and its Ohio Valley Conference record at 4-4. UT Martin fell to 10-12 and 5-3 in league play.
"I'm really proud of our team and how they continued to fight. I felt like this was a great basketball game, and it was very back and forth. You just have to persevere in games like that," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.
There were five lead changes in the second half and 11 tie scores overall. The Cougars prevailed with a disciplined offense and a corralling defense.
Raven Berry and Tierny Austin each turned in a double-double for the Cougars. Berry scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Austin scored 18 points and picked up 10 rebounds. Herrod missed a double-double by a single point with nine points and 11 rebounds.
While it was 30th double-double of Berry's career, it was the first double-double of Austin's career.
"Tierny gives me everything she has on the court all the time. She plays extremely hard and extremely passionate. She stayed aggressive on both ends of the court," said Buscher.
Austin herself felt like the team played strong defense against the Skyhawks.
"We wanted to come out really aggressive. Defensively, we just wanted to get stops and not let them get easy looks anywhere on the court. We did a good job of rotating and helping each other out," said Austin.
Jasmine Newsome led the Skyhawks with 17 points followed by 14 from Heather Butler and 10 from Sydney Vanlandingham. Both Newsome and Butler, two of the top scorers in the OVC, were held below their season scoring average despite playing the extra five minutes.
Berry, who needs just three rebounds to pass Kim (Lowe) Thompson as the all-time leader at SIUE, recalled last season's only matchup between the two teams where the Skyhawks handed the Cougars a 32-point defeat in Martin, Tenn.
"We came out with a chip on our shoulder," said Berry. "We had a whole year to think about last season's game against UT Martin. This time we were ready for them, and we gave them our best effort."
Berry, Austin, and Herrod provided the muscle in the paint, but it was the three-point shooting of freshman Jessie Wendt that gave the Cougars an edge. She finished with a season-high 12 points off four three-pointers.
"I was really proud of our perimeter players," said Buscher. "We stepped up and knocked down shots, but we also penetrated which was key. You have to have a good mix of taking outside shots and attacking the basket."
SIUE was swarming on defense and held the Skyhawks to a .333 field goal percentage. UT Martin took more than half of its shots from three-point range, hitting 11 of 34 from beyond the arc.
"You have trust in what you're doing and especially trust in your teammates defensively, and that's probably what I'm most proud of is how focused we stayed defensively against a very good UT Martin team," Buscher said.
With five second-half lead changes, the Skyhawks originally sent the game into overtime when Rickiesha Bryant hit the back end of two free throw attempts to tie the score 58-58.
In overtime, Wendt put SIUE out front 61-58 with a three-pointer and was matched on the other end by Butler.
There were three tie scores in the overtime period. Herrod broke it by hitting the front end of two free throws with 5.8 left.
SIUE now has 48 hours to prepare for Southeast Missouri at the Vadalabene Center. Monday's tip-off time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
