SIUE Cougars (0-2, 0-0 OVC)
vs. Evansville Purple Aces (0-1, 0-0 VALLEY)
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023 | 1:00 PM CT
First Community Arena (4,000) | Edwardsville, Illinois
LAST TIME OUT: Halle Smith and KK Rodriguez led SIUE with 14 points apiece, but SIUE fell short at the buzzer against Eastern Kentucky on Thursday night at First Community Arena. Despite trailing by 12 in the opening quarter, SIUE's offense fought back to minimize EKU's lead to just six at the conclusion of the first. With just over a minute remaining in the first half, the Cougars tied the game twice before entering the locker room down two. Trailing by three with just over a second remaining in the contest, Sofie Lowis grabbed her own offensive rebound on her own missed three-point opportunity and converted an and-one to knot the contest at 72. However, the Colonels took a timeout and executed a last shot opportunity to down SIUE, 74-72. Four Cougars finished the game in double figures: Smith (14), Rodriguez (14), Macy Silvey (12), and Stoller (12).
SERIES HISTORY: Sunday marks the fourth meeting between the Cougars and Purple Aces dating back to 1984. SIUE leads the series 2-1 and have taken the last two contests inside First Community Arena.
50TH SEASON OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The 2023-24 season marks the 50th season of women's basketball at SIUE. The Cougars own an all-time record of 684-639 since the program began in 1974.
READY TO COMPETE IN MARCH: In its nonconference schedule, SIUE will play four games against opponents who finished the 2022-23 season in RPI top 100 (Oklahoma State, Illinois State, Middle Tennessee, and Michigan).
TABBED SEVENTH: The preseason Ohio Valley Conference poll predicted a seventh-place finish for the Cougars. Tennessee Tech was selected as regular season champions with 16-first place votes.
AT THE HELM: Samantha Quigley Smith is beginning her third season in charge of the Cougars and 12th season as a head coach. She owns a 22-42 record at SIUE and is 15-21 against conference opponents. All-time, Coach Sam is 206-138.
YOUNG AND HUNGRY: Freshmen Ava Gugliuzza and Stoller paced the Cougars' scoring efforts with 25 points Nov. 6 at Oklahoma State. Stoller followed up her performance at OSU with another 12-point outing against Eastern Kentucky Thursday. Stoller joins SIUE this season from St. Petersburg HS where she led the Green Devlis' scoring efforts with 25.5 points and 4.4 rebounds as a senior. Gugliuzza joins the Cougars from Lincoln Way-West HS where she became the fifth Illinois women's basketball player to make at least 400 3-pointers in a varsity career.
RODRIGUEZ PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Rodriguez earned Preseason All-OVC honors. The graduate guard ranked fourth on the Cougars' 2022-23 squad averaging 8.1 points per game while leading SIUE in total assists (73) and steals (50). Her 1.9 steals per game ranked fifth in the OVC while her assists per game were good for 10th.
FAB FIVE: SIUE returns five student-athletes to the 2023-24 roster: Olivia Clayton, Lowis, Rodriguez, Molly Sheehan, and Silvey. All five played a wealth of minutes and cracked the starting lineup at least 17 times.
TRANSFERS: Alexis Legan (Orange Coast College), Halle Smith (Southeast Missouri State), Lezhauria Williams (Rend Lake Junior College), and Brianna Wooldridge (IUPUI) all join the Cougars this season as transfers.
FRESHMAN ADDITIONS: SIUE added three freshmen in the offseason: Emiyah Cobb, Gugliuzza, and Stoller.
