T-town Graduate Jessie Wendt Scores 11 as SIUE Wins

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Five players scored in double figures Monday as SIUE women's basketball powered past Jacksonville State 80-58 at the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher shook up her starting lineup, and the Cougars responded with their biggest win of the season. SIUE improved to 8-9 overall and 2-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Three players tied their season high and two more players set new season bests.

"I wanted some more energy in our starting lineup compared to Saturday, and I thought the players responded to that," said Buscher. "We were able to get points off of their turnovers, so it starts on the defensive end."

SIUE scored 25 points off Jacksonville State's 22 turnovers.

Jazmin Hill, making her first start of the season, matched her season high with 16 points, including four three-pointers. Hill, a junior from O'Fallon, is now 10 three-pointers shy of No. 2 on the all-time three-pointers list. Hill, who shot 6 of 8 from the field, opened the game with a three-pointer from the corner 25 seconds into the contest. Jacksonville State, 0-18 overall and 0-6 in the OVC, tied the game 5-5 but quickly fell behind the Cougars.

SIUE went on a 10-0 run behind Ashley Capotosto who tied her season best with 10 points. CoCo Moore scored a solid 10 points. Jessie Wendt, a Teutopolis graduate, came off the bench for the Cougars for 11 points, matching her career best. Wendt hit four of eight from the field and one of three from three-point range. She hit two of six free throws. She also had two assists, one steal and one rebound.

Tierny Austin was SIUE's fifth player in double figures with 12 points on a team best 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

SIUE now takes to the road for its next two contests. The Cougars travel to Murray State Saturday followed by a Monday meeting at Austin Peay.