EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Four SIUE players scored in double figures Thursday evening, as SIUE women's basketball upended Austin Peay 71-61 at First Community Arena.

"I'm just really proud of our group," said SIUE Head Coach Samantha Quigley Smith following the win. "I know our players said this, but we've had so many close games and haven't pulled them out against some of the top teams in the league. And today, to finally get one, really exciting - and for it to happen right before the conference tournament. We've been talking about taking it one day at a time - you've got to come ready to play and have a sense of urgency. We were treating today's game like next week's conference tournament game, where if you don't win and you don't do what you're supposed to do, you're going to go home the next day."

The Cougars led the contest from wire-to-wire, opening up the contest with relentless offensive pressure before locking down on defense in the second half to secure the win. SIUE drilled a trio of three-pointers in the opening frame to build a 25-17 lead. The Red & White held the Governors to just 25 percent from the floor in the second quarter to head into the locker room with a 42-26 lead. The Cougars did not cool down in the second half, shooting nearly 64 percent from the field in the third frame. Despite a back-and-forth final period, the Cougar lead proved too great for Austin Peay to overcome and allowed the Red & White to secure the double-digit victory.

MIkayla Kinnard led the Cougars with 17 points, followed by 16 from Gabby Nikitinaite. Kinnard shot 6-of-13 from the field and registering five assists, a pair of rebounds, and a pair of steals. 15 from Prima Chellis and 12 from Allie Troeckler.

"I feel like we had a lot of close games in the beginning that we weren't able to pull out," said Kinnard. "But now, it's crunch time - Coach Sam keeps saying to live in the moment and live in today because tomorrow isn't promised, so I feel like we're really doing that."

Prima Chellis added 15 points to her credit, going an impressive five-of-six from the floor, converting on all five free throw attempts, and collecting four rebounds in the contest. Allie Troeckler notched 12 points on the night along with a pair of rebounds.

"Honestly, I just had to go get it," said Chellis. "The past few games, I didn't play well, so I felt like I needed to step it up. Also, being one of the starters, I feel like I just needed to do more and give more for my team."

The Cougars, which improve to 7-10 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 11-17 overall, will close out the regular season at First Community Arena on Saturday afternoon with a home contest against Morehead State. The program will honor its graduating student-athletes prior to tip-off, which is scheduled for 1 p.m.