RICHMOND, Ky. - SIUE women's basketball won its sixth straight road contest Thursday with a 66-55 victory over Eastern Kentucky at McBrayer Arena.

"That was a hard fought and physical win," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens. "We did enough to win and held our composure when they made some runs down the stretch."

The Cougars, 17-9 and 11-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, have now won three straight games and nine of its last 11.

SIUE guard Katie Hempen matched her career high with 19 points. The Cougar freshman shot 7 of 10 from the field. Hempen's only misses were from beyond the three-point line.

"She had a couple looks that were in and out. As a coach you want her to shoot them. We talk about great misses, and those were great misses. We know as her career progresses those are shots she'll knock down for us," Levens said.

Michaela Herrod was dominant inside with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Her aggressive play resulted in career best numbers at the free throw line. The Cougar junior was 10 of 15 from the charity stripe.

"Katie stepped up and had a great game for us, and Michaela a huge game at both ends and a great second half. They didn't give Jazmin (Hill) any looks. That just shows the progress of our team that she can go from being our leading scorer to having one point, and we are still victorious," Levens said.

Hill was held to just three shots on the offensive end with EKU keying on the Cougar sophomore who had entered the contest with a 15-game streak of at least one three-pointer made. Hill was held to one point.

Raven Berry also was solid in the paint with 15 points, nine rebounds, and a team-high four steals. The Cougar junior is now eight points away from 1,000 career points.

EKU fell to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in the OVC. Marie Carpenter paced the Colonels with 20 points off the bench. The EKU bench scored 34 of the team's points. Alex Jones was the lone EKU starter in double figures with 15 points.

The Colonels led 26-24 at halftime although Berry's jumper at the buzzer was waived off after officials studied the courtside monitor and determined her shot wasn't in time.

The Cougars didn't let that bother them in the second half. SIUE would shoot 57 percent over the final 20 minutes. Playing more aggressive in the second half, SIUE would finish the game shooting 25 of 35 from the free throw line, a season best in free throws made and attempted.

EKU also committed 24 turnovers which SIUE turned into 24 points. SIUE turned the ball over just 13 times.

SIUE next heads to Morehead State Saturday at 4:15 p.m. CT for its final OVC contest of the season. The Cougars are looking to improve on its 6-1 record in OVC road contests. Morehead State handed SIUE its last loss 73-70 on Feb. 6 at the Vadalabene Center.

"We're more hungry to play better. We didn't feel like we played very well against them earlier this season. They came to our place and were the aggressors and executed their game plan. We're going to have our hands full. We will be ready to play," Levens said.

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