In an exciting matchup, the SIUE Cougars narrowly defeated the Dayton Flyers 75-74. Although the Cougars fought hard, including KK Rodriguez's tying three-pointer with seven seconds left in the game, the Dayton Flyers sealed the win with a layup with three seconds remaining.
"It was a tough game," said head coach Samantha Quigley-Smith." We played hard tonight. I'm proud of our players.
The Cougars' play late in the game was not enough to overcome the University of Dayton's dominance on the glass. The Flyers outrebounded SIUE 51-34 and led in offensive rebounds and second-chance points by a whopping 25-9.
The Cougars' Rodriguez tied her career high with a game-high 33 points. She was 11-of-21 from the field, 7-of-9 from the free throw line and 4-of-5 from three-point range. Rodriguez also contributed six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Off the bench, Olivia Clayton provided a spark for SIUE, scoring a career-high 11 points. She was 4-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from the free throw line and grabbed five rebounds.
Macy Silvey and Ava Stoller each contributed five rebounds and scored eight and seven points, respectively. Stoller also dished out four of the Cougars' 14 assists.
Defensively, SIUE had a season-high six caps. Halle Smith had three caps and Clayton had two.
Despite the loss, Coach Smith was proud of the effort and resilience of his players." Smith said, "I can't say enough about our effort and resilience." Both teams fought until the final whistle. As a coach, you want to be in a game like this. We have to take it to the next level.
The Cougars will take some time off after Thanksgiving before returning home to host Middle Tennessee on Sunday, November 26th. The game will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Cougar website.
