KOKOMO, Ind. – The Indiana University Kokomo women's basketball team dropped a tightly-contested matchup Thursday evening at IU East, 63-60. The Cougars led the Red Wolves after a quarter, but IU East controlled the next quarter and a half of play to squeeze past IU Kokomo. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 5-10 on the season and 2-6 in River States Conference action.

IU Kokomo jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead less than a minute into the game as the first quarter was both competitive and high scoring. The Red Wolves took their first lead of the night on an Addie Brown three-pointer at 9-6, but the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead midway through the opening quarter.

IU East kept the IUK lead at five and eventually took another short-lived lead with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Sierra Peete converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Cougars a 24-22 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Cougars shot 11% from the field in the second quarter as the Red Wolves outscored IU Kokomo 11-3 to take a 33-27 lead over the Cougars at halftime.

IU East was able to extend their lead to 14 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter, but IU Kokomo showed resilience in outscoring IU East 10-4 to cut the Red Wolves lead to eight points after three quarters.

Guard Sierra Peete knocked down a jumper three minutes into the fourth to pull the Cougars to within four before IU East built the lead back to seven, but IUK was not done yet. The Cougars were able to get as close as three-points on three separate occasions but IU East held on to beat IU Kokomo 63-60.

Senior Tia Chambers led the Cougars with 27 points on 9/11 shooting from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds and blocking four shots. Sierra Peete contributed 16 points and three steals in 37 minutes of action.

The Cougars will return to action a week from today, January 20, at RSC foe Point Park. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.