EHS Grad Silvey Scores Career-High 24 Points In SIUE Game Against Lindenwood

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – SIUE women's basketball outscored Lindenwood 27-13 in the third quarter and Macy Silvey tallied a career-high 24 points, but the Lions held their lead in the final quarter for a 79-73 final on Thursday night at Robert F. Hyland Arena.

Silvey's career-high 24 points led the SIUE offense and marked the sophomore's 17th career game in double-figures. She went 8-18 overall and 6-8 at the free throw line. The guard also led the Cougars with eight rebounds, the fifth time she has commanded SIUE on the glass this season.

"Macy battled," said head SIUE coach Samantha Quigley Smith. "She did a great job of fighting and continuing to guard until the final whistle. We talked about how we were going to change defense a little bit, playing pressurized and in denial full court. Macy did a heck of a job denying for the basketball."

"We had a really good fight," added Coach Smith. "We could've rolled over and lost by 30. Our team came out with a little more drive and energy in the second half. This was the tale of two halves for sure. We have to come out ready to play, and I don't think we were today. Hopefully, we learned a little something in this one."

Lindenwood took a 19-point lead at 44-25 entering halftime, scoring 18 points off 14 SIUE turnovers. SIUE flipped the Lions' momentum in the third quarter, outscoring Lindenwood by 14 points, going 8-15 overall and 6-10 at the stripe.

"We had a different defensive set that we incorporated in the second half, which I thought worked well for us," said Smith. "We got in more passing lanes and made things more difficult for them."

The Lions led by as many as 19 in the contest, but SIUE cut its deficit to two on a jumper by Lezhauria Williams with just over five minutes to go in the fourth. Lindenwood grabbed the following six points over the next two minutes.

SIUE used a 5-0 run to trail by three with 19 seconds remaining in the contest following a three-pointer by Silvey and layup by Molly Sheehan. The Cougars were forced to foul and Lindenwood held onto its lead for a 79-73 final score.

The Cougars turned the ball over only four times in the final two quarters while shooting a combined 48 percent (15-31) from the field. Overall, SIUE shot 44 percent (25-57) while going 7-20 from three-point land and 16-20 at the charity stripe. Lindenwood went 51 percent (30-59) from the floor and 15-26 at the line.

"They hit some very timely shots down the stretch," said Smith. "It hurt because I think we could've crawled back or taken a lead. We are a good free throw shooting team, but we have to be a little more aggressive and put ourselves in opportunities to take free shots."

Sheehan turned in her eighth consecutive double-figure outing with 10. She shot 3-4 from the floor while going 2-2 at the line. The junior also tallied two of the Cougars' seven steals.

Halle Smith and Sofie Lowis pitched in nine points while Ava Stoller added eight. Stoller also dished out a season-best nine assists. Both Stoller and Smith collected six rebounds. Smith led SIUE with a pair of blocks on the defensive end.

Lindenwood was led by Alyssa Neilsen's 16 points and eight rebounds.

SIUE continues its weekend road swing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on Saturday against SEMO. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

"At the end of the day, we need a full group to show up ready to play," said Smith. "We did get better today, but we came out on the wrong side of this one."

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