The Seattle University women’s basketball team limited SIU Edwardsville to one field goal in the final 5:20 of the contest and made 9-of-10 free throws in that span to hold off the Cougars, 63-57, Saturday evening at the Vadalabene Center for its fifth consecutive victory overall and its fourth straight win on the road.
Cassidy Murillo () led all players with 19 points, plus she pulled down seven rebounds, dished out five assists, and earned two steals. Chelsie Morrison (, ) finished with 18 points and a team-high six steals, while Breanna Salley () struggled from the field but still managed 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots.
A three-pointer by Murillo gave Seattle University a 42-35 lead four minutes into the second half, but back-to-back three-pointers from Kate Affourtit and Ashley Bey brought SIU Edwardsville within one. Neither team made a field goal for over five minutes, with the two squads trading the advantage until a Morrison basket with 6:13 remaining in the second half gave SeattleU the lead for good.
Murillo scored eight points in the first 4:19 of the contest to help SeattleU jump out to an 11-3 lead. Down 20-11 halfway through the first half, SIU Edwardsville scored ten unanswered points, capped by consecutive three-pointers from Brittany Imig and Affourtit to give the Cougars a 21-20 advantage. In the final minutes before halftime, Morrison scored seven straight Redhawk points, followed by four straight points from Salley in the final minute to give the visitors a 33-26 halftime lead.
Mercedes Alexander () finished with eight points and six rebounds as she was limited to 21 minutes on the court due to foul trouble. Freshman guard Elle Kerfoot (, B.C.) led all players with a career-high ten rebounds to go along with four key second-half points. Kerfoot helped SeattleU win the rebounding battle, 43-35.
SIU Edwardsville (5-18) was led by Ashley Bey, who scored 15 points and earned three steals. Nobody else reached double figures in scoring for the Cougars, as Jessie Stapleton, Madison Meade, and Sydney Winslow each scored seven points and three other Cougars finished the evening with six points, including Jenny Wuest, who also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Each team shot just over 35 percent from the field and committed a similar amount of turnovers (21 for SeattleU, 19 for SIUE). finished 19-of-26 from the free throw line (73.1%), while the Cougars hit 9-of-17 of their free throw attempts (52.9%).
(12-7) finishes a stretch of six road games in seven contests by facing Academy of Art University in , Wednesday, Feb. 4, beginning at 5 p.m. The Redhawks begin a five-game homestand next Saturday, Feb. 7, against starting at 5:30 p.m. at the .