NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mikayla Kinnard and Gabby Nikitinaite combined for 54 points Thursday as SIUE women's basketball collected an 86-76 win at Tennessee State.

In what was a roller coaster-type game, Kinnard scored a career-best 29 points while Nikitinaite added 25.

"My teammates and my coaches were talking to me," said Kinnard. "Every timeout and every dead ball, they were telling me to keep being aggressive."

SIUE, 10-16 overall and 6-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference, held as much as a 15-point lead in the first period but a second quarter burst for Tennessee State made for a 37-35 lead at halftime. Even though Tennessee State held a 10-point, fourth quarter lead, the Cougars pulled away by hitting 7 of 15 from the field and 15 of 16 on the free throw line.

"Our fourth quarter was really great," said SIUE Head Coach Samantha Quigley Smith.

Tennessee State, 11-15 overall and 6-9 in the OVC, benefited from a career-best performance from Gia Adams. The Tiger freshman scored 33 points with 12-of-18 shooting from the field that included five three-pointers.

SIUE picked up 20 valuable minutes from Masyn McWilliams, who scored six points in her first start of the season.

"She was great for us defensively too," said Smith. "She had some big rebounds. Prima Chellis had some big rebounds down the stretch as well."

The Cougars committed just seven turnovers in the second half after giving up the ball 16 times in the first half.

"We did a great job of taking care of the ball in the second half," said Smith.

SIUE next heads to Belmont for a 2 p.m. contest Saturday.