NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A five-minute scoreless stretch near the end of the game proved to be the difference in SIUE's Ohio Valley Conference opener at Belmont.

SIUE and Belmont, the two most recent newcomers to the OVC, met for the first time Saturday at Curb Event Center as the Bruins picked up a 66-52 victory. SIUE fell to 6-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.

CoCo Moore shined in her OVC debut with a career-high 17 points. The Cougar freshman from Indianapolis, Ind., shot 7 of 14 from the field in 32 minutes played.

"I thought CoCo played very well especially for playing that many minutes. I thought she stepped up tonight and stayed really aggressive," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.

Raven Berry was the only other player in double figures for the Cougars. She had 14 points, nine rebounds, and four steals. Michaela Herrod matched her season-high with 13 rebounds.

Belmont guard Katie Brooks sparked the Bruins, now 6-7 overall and 1-0 in OVC play, with a career best 22-point effort. Jordan Coleman and Jordyn Luffman followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

 "I thought this was a great ball game. We've got to stay aggressive. We were attacking the basket and were doing some good things," said Buscher.

The Cougars were down by as many as eight in the first half before making a comeback to lead 31-28 at halftime.

The game was close for much of the second half with six lead changes. SIUE was up by as many as six in the second half. SIUE's last lead was 49-47 on a layup by Berry with 6:33 to play.

Belmont went on an 18-0 run over the next five minutes. Eleven of the 18 points came from free throws. The Bruins were 14 of 20 from the free throw line in the second half.

 "It was a tremendous game for 35 minutes. The last five minutes we did not take care of the basketball," Buscher said.

 "We started second-guessing ourselves instead of playing," Buscher added. SIUE finished the game shooting 32.3 percent from the field (20-62).

SIUE has two more OVC road contests to open the league season. Next Saturday SIUE challenges Eastern Kentucky followed by a Monday matchup at Morehead State.

 "This is the first game of the OVC. We're obviously very disappointed that we dropped this on the road. It's just the start. We have plenty of time to bounce back," said Buscher.