EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Anyone who saw just the final 13:37 of the SIUE women's basketball matchup with Purdue might be surprised to know which team is ranked No. 14 nationally in the USA Today/ESPN poll.

SIUE, now 1-2, outscored Purdue 33-14 over the final 13:37 Saturday but dropped a 66-51 decision to the Boilermakers at the Vadalabene Center.

"I'm not OK with losing, but there were a lot of positives to take from this game as well. There were a lot of teaching moments to take from this game. There's only one way to play this game.  You have to play hard and play to the buzzer, and I thought we did that late," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.

Tierny Austin led a second-half charge for the Cougars by scoring a career high in her second straight game. The Cougar sophomore pumped in a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds.

"What Tierny does such a great job is going to the boards and making plays," said Buscher.  "I thought she gave us more of that in the second half and that opened up her shot as well."

Jazmin Hill came off the bench for 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Hill now needs three more three-pointers to pass Misi Clark (1997-2000) and Jessica Robert (2000-03) for third all-time.

Raven Berry became the No. 2 all-time rebounder for the Cougars with 14 caroms. She passed Nancy Swain (1980-83) and now has 768 in her collegiate career. Kim Lowe (1995-98) is SIUE's all-time rebounds leader with 917.

Purdue, ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN national poll and No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, shot 53.6 percent in the first half and rolled up a 34-13 lead by halftime.

"I thought we got some good shots early in the first half, but we couldn't make them. I thought that affected us a little bit," said Buscher. "You get to a point where you can't look at the scoreboard and just play with great heart and great passion. I thought we did a great job with that in the second half.  I thought we played well until the end and battled, and that's what I like to see."

Guard Courtney Moses led the Boilermakers with 14 points followed by Drey Mingo with 11 and April Wilson with 10. Sam Osterello helped the Boilermakers win the battle of the board 40-35. SIUE, however, grabbed 16 offensive boards and outscored Purdue 11-9 on second-chance points.

The Boilermakers, 2-0, slowed down in the second half and shot 6 of 17 from the field as SIUE's defense tightened its grip. SIUE hit 12 field goals in the second half and outscored Purdue in the second half overall 38-32.

"I can't say enough about how hard we played down the stretch. It's important to play a 40-minute game and we did a good job of playing to the buzzer and that's what we have to do," said Buscher.

The Cougars will have their third game in five days Monday when they welcome Western Illinois to the Vadalabene Center for a 7 p.m. contest.