SIUE Cougars (4-7, 0-0 OVC)
vs. Belmont Bruins (4-5, 0-0 OVC)
Thu., Dec. 30, 5:30 p.m. CT
Edwardsville, Ill. (First Community Arena)

Video: ESPN+
Radio: WSIE FM 88.7 the Sound (Randy Moehlman)
Audio: SIUECougarNetwork.com
Live Stats: SIUEStats.com

All-Time Series: Belmont leads 10-3
First Meeting: Dec. 29, 2012
Result: L, 66-52 at Nashville, Tenn.
Last Meeting: Feb. 6, 2021
Result: L, 78-33 at Edwardsville, Ill.
Current Series Streak: Belmont W8

OPENING TIP
• The Cougars have two players on 1,000 career points alert. Gabby Nikitinaite needs six. Allie Troeckler needs 21 points. Nikitinaite had three seasons at Northern Illinois and one at George Washington previously.
• Prima Chellis was named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week (12/28) after her 17-point, eight-rebound performance off the bench against Arkansas State in the final nonconference game of the season.
• Mikayla Kinnard had her second-largest scoring output of the season with 17 points against Arkansas State. Kinnard had 20 against Western Illinois.
• Gabby Nikitinaite was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week (12/14) after a 27-point performance against Illinois State. That matched her career high in scoring.
• Nikitinaite has been named the Newcomer of the Week twice. SIUE's Jaida Hampton was named OVC Newcomer of the Week four weeks ago.
• SIUE leads the OVC in assists per game (15.5) and assists (170).
• The Cougars also lead the OVC in free throws made (174) and free throws attempted (244). Both are ranked 21st nationally.
• Troeckler is 39th nationally and second in the OVC in steals per game (2.64). She had five steals in both the Illinois and Butler games.
• SIUE has featured the same starting lineup in its first 10 games (Ajulu Thatha, Mikayla Kinnard, Gabby Nikitinaite, Mikia Keith and Allie Troeckler).
• SIUE has four players ranked in the top 250 nationally in free throw percentage: Nikitinaite (82.9), Ajulu Thatha (76.9), Troeckler (71.8) and Kinnard (71.7).