MOREHEAD, Ky. – SIUE women's basketball shot 66 percent from the field (8-12) in the fourth quarter but couldn't push past Morehead State down the stretch, dropping a 75-69 contest at Johnson Arena.

The Cougars outshot Morehead State from the field but were upended in rebounding 42-36 as well as on the free throw line. The Eagles hit 21 of 31 from the charity stripe while SIUE connected on 14 of 24 free throws.

"The bigger piece I can tell you is the two things we said before the game: you can't put them on the free throw line and you have to block out," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.

SIUE, 3-11 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, led 18-14 after one quarter but fell to shooting woes by missing its first eight shots of the period. The Cougars also made seven of their 24 turnovers for the game in the second period.

"It's so hard to bounce back from that when you give the other team confidence," said Buscher.

"You have to be stronger with the ball in your hands," she continued. "I thought that if we had taken care of the basketball we would have been able to score on the inside on them. We didn't take care of the ball in the second quarter. That's where we lost that lead."

Allie Troeckler shined for the Cougars with 19 points and eight rebounds. She was one point shy of her season and career high in scoring.

Mikala Hall scored 11 points to match her career high. Kelsie Williams set her personal best in scoring for the third time this season, pumping in 11 points. That was her second career double-digit effort.

SIUE trailed by seven to start the fourth quarter and pulled to within three with 8:40 to play, but the Eagles used an 8-0 run to strengthen their lead. The Cougars hit five straight shots in the final three minutes, only breaking the streak on a halfcourt shot as time expired.

Morehead State, 6-9 overall and 2-1 in the OVC, finished with five players in double figures led by 21 points off the bench by Jazzmyn Elston. The Eagles also picked pick up 15 from Breuna Jackson, 12 from Tomiyah Alford and 11 each from Jaleesa Avery and Ariel Kirkwood.