CHARLESTON, Ill. – SIUE dropped its season finale at Eastern Illinois 76-72 in overtime. The Cougars have earned the No. 3 seed for next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The first-round matchup and complete bracket will be announced later this evening.

Eastern Illinois won its third game of the season and second in OVC play. It was the first time SIUE slipped in overtime since EIU defeated the Cougars in OT on Jan. 6, 2011.

The Cougars were down by as many as 20 points in the second quarter only to make a steady run back to tie the game 55-55 on an Allie Troeckler free throw with 3:41 left in regulation.

"We fought and got all the way back in," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.

Troeckler led the Cougars in scoring for the second straight game, posting a career-high 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a 12-of-13 pace from the free throw line.

Lauren White inched closer to the 1,000-point mark in her collegiate career with 16 points. She needs 18 more for 1,000.

Jay'Nee Alston and Donshel Beck added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

EIU posted some big numbers in the first half, hitting all five of its three-point attempted in the first period and 3 of 6 in the second. The Panthers had five different players hit three-pointers in the game, led by 16 points from Taylor Steele.

"Give them credit, they hit 10 threes," noted Buscher. "You have to make sure you defend the three-pointer against Eastern."

EIU shot 59.2 percent from the field (16-27) in the first half, racing to a 45-27 lead at halftime.

"I know we're a better defensive team than what we have showed the past two games," said Buscher.

The second half was much different for the Panthers as they shot just 5 of 32 (15.6 percent) from the field. Still five players scored in double figures for EIU. After Steele, Jalisha Smith and Karle Pace each had 15. Jennifer Nehls netted 12, and Grace McRae added 10.

"I talked about grit to start the game," said Buscher. "Sometimes when you go through failures and tough times, that's when you really start to find successes."

SIUE finished the regular season with a 16-13 record and a 13-5 mark in conference play.