EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.- SIUE women's basketball team dropped a contested match up 57-52 Saturday afternoon against Loyola Chicago at First Community Arena.
SIUE falls to 0-3 on the young season. Loyola Chicago improves to 3-1.

The Cougars fell behind early as Loyola Chicago took an early 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

SIUE answered with a 10-2 run of its own capped off by a Kendal George three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the opening quarter.

SIUE took its first lead of the game with a layup by Briana Wooldridge with 9:33 left in the first half.

The Cougars would stretch the lead to five on a pair of free throws by Macy Silvey. SIUE led 21-19 at halftime.

SIUE took its biggest lead of the game 26-20 in the second half on an Ava Gugliuzza layup with 7:43 left in the third quarter.

Loyola Chicago cut into the deficit with back-to-back three-pointers which led to a Ramblers 10-0 run to take the lead 37-34.

The Ramblers led the rest of the way and raised the lead to 50-41 with 1:44 remaining in the game.

SIUE was led by junior Brianna Wooldridge who scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Kendal George led the Cougars in scoring with 12 points (4 of 6). George added 4 rebounds off the bench.

SIUE got a boost off the bench with 32 points.

The Cougars shot 18 of 50 from the field (36 percent) and 6 of 21 from behind the arc (29 percent).

SIUE grabbed 39 total rebounds and 22 turnovers.

Loyola Chicago was led by Kira Chivers who scored 13 points, 3 assists and sprinkled in a rebound.

The Ramblers shot 32 percent (17 of 54) from the field and 33 percent (7 of 21) from three-point range.

SIUE will host Roosevelt on Tuesday with tip scheduled for 6:00p.m.

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