EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field Tuesday as Western Illinois outlasted SIUE 96-93 in nonconference women's basketball at First Community Arena.

"Just really proud of our fight," started SIUE Head Coach Samantha Quigley Smith. "I said this in the locker room to our group: if we can put together 40 minutes, we're going to be a really special group and a really special team."

All five SIUE starters finished scoring in double figures. Mikayla Kinnard topped the Cougars' scoring with a season-high 20 points. Allie Troeckler recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Ajulu Thatha and Gabby Nikitinaite scored 14 while Mikia Keith added 11.

SIUE dropped to 3-4 and next looks forward to a 7 p.m. meeting Thursday against Saint Louis at First Community Arena.

"It's really early, so it's hard to get discouraged," said Smith. "As a coach, you see the potential in your group. You see the expectations you've set for them and understanding that our schedule is tough. Every game is going to be a dogfight, and our group has to fight back."

Western Illinois improved to 8-2 as it battled through eight lead changes in the game. A 9-0 run in the third period put the Leathernecks up 70-60 with 1:39 left in the third period.

The Leathernecks picked up 27 points from Jada Thorpe and 25 from Danni Nichols. WIU shot 54.5 percent from the field (36-66) and scored 56 points in the paint.

The Cougars surged in the fourth period, cutting the lead to as little as three points (92-89) on a banked three-pointer by Keith. SIUE shot 51.4 percent as a team from the field (36-70) and collected 48 points in the paint.

SIUE also dished out 27 assists, the most in a game since 2019. Troeckler led the Cougars with seven assists, missing her first triple-double by a handful of assists.

"Improvement is so important," noted Smith. "We're a different team than we were a month ago at Memphis. We're a different team than we were at Kansas, and that's really important. A month from now, we're hopefully a different and better team than we are right now. And so that improvement and getting us prepared and ready for the OVC, I think that's going to be huge for us.