EDWARDSVILLE, Ill- SIUE travels to Cape Girardeau to face SEMO. The Cougars are coming off a 83-60 loss against Little Rock.
LAST TIME OUT: SIUE had two players scoring in double digits,
Molly Sheehan (15) and
Brianna Wooldridge (11). The Cougars out shot the Trojans in the second quarter going 5-16 overall and 7-7 from the free throw line and in the third shooting 40 percent overall and 70 percent from the free throw line.
TEAM RANK: SIUE leads the OVC in Bench points per game (27.8), this is also good for 40th in the NCAA.
SCORING LEADER:
Brianna Wooldridge currently leads the team in scoring averaging 9.5 points a game. Wooldridge is shooting .452 from the field (33-74). She is also shooting .700 from the line.
REBOUND: Wooldridge averages 4.8 rebounds a game,
Ava Stoller follows with 4.8,
Macy Silvey averages 3.5,
Halle Smith with 3.3 and
Ava Gugliuzza with 3.2.
SILVEY LINING: Silvey currently leads the team in three points made (20) averaging 2.0 per game, this also good for sixth in the OVC. She ranks fourth in the OVC for her three point percentage (37.7).
HALLE BUCKETS: Smith recorded her third 20-point game against Evansville Dec.8. Her 24 points was a new career high and, the first 20-point game for a Cougar this season. Smith is shooting .457 from the field (20-42).
SHEEHAN-DLES:
Molly Sheehan has had 20 assists so far this season averaging 2.0 a game. She had her fourth game in double-digits this season against Little Rock which also marker her first game this season as the scoring leader.
THE RETURN:
KK Rodriguez made her return to play Dec. 4 against Middle Tennessee after missing 21 games in the 2023-24 season. She came out hot opening the scoring for the Cougars. She totaled 7 points and six rebounds over 14 minutes.
COLLEGE DEBUT:
Meegan Fahy marked her debut as a starter against UMSL.
Rory Conboy has also seen minutes against UMSL and Murray State.
Olivia Loveland and
Alexis Warren made their debut for the Cougars against Murray State.
Carmen Martinez Lopez made her debut against Roosevelt contributing two points.
TRANSFERS: Kendall George (UT Martin),
Jaiden Bryant (Missouri St.) both joined the Cougars for the 2024-25 season.
FRESHMAN ADDITIONS: SIUE added five freshman in the off season,
Meegan Fahy,
Olivia Loveland,
Carmen Martinez Lopez,
Alexis Warren, and
Rory Conboy.
AT THE HELM:
Samantha Quigley Smith is in her fourth season in charge of the Cougars and 12th season as a head coach. She owns a 29-73 record at SIUE and is 17-38 against conference opponents. All-time, Smith is 213-169.
PRESEASON HONORS: The preseason Ohio Valley Conference Poll predicted an eighth-place finish for the Cougars tied with UT Martin. Southern Indiana was selected as regular season champions with 20 first-place votes. Graduate guard
KK Rodriguez and junior
Macy Silvey earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Honors.
LAST SEASON: Silvey tied for sixth in the OVC averaging 1.9 three-pointers per game. She moved into 13th all-time at SIUE with 98 three-pointers and led the charge scoring double-figures in 14 games. Rodriguez was named OVC player of the week three times. Before leaving the game at SIU Carbondale with an injury, she ranked third in the NCAA in total points, third in free throw attempts, third in free throws made, ninth in scoring average, and seventh in three-point percentage.
