One door closes as another opens for the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team.
The Billikens ended their regular season last weekend, losing at Marquette, 67-31, last Friday and at DePaul, 60-52, last Sunday. These losses dropped SLU to 14-13 overall and 5-11 in Conference USA.
SLU turns its attention back to Milwaukee this week for the C-USA Tournament. Marquette hosts the tournament at the U.S. Cellular Arena on March 2-5. SLU is the 11th seed and faces Memphis, the sixth seed, in the first round on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Tigers finished the year 16-11 overall and 9-7 in C-USA and defeated the Billikens earlier this year, 71-58 in Memphis.
Tiffany Adkins, a 6′ 0″ forward, averages 18.3 points a game and 7.8 rebounds for the Tigers. Patrice Boyd chips in on the boards, pulling down six a game. Memphis employs a full-court press the entire game.
“We lost earlier this year by 13, but with four minutes left, it was a four-point game,” said coach Jill Pizzotti. “We have to deal with their full-court press. We’ll have to maintain an aggressive attack mode against the press. They really pound it inside.”
As the Billikens return to Milwaukee this weekend, they have a bad taste in their mouths after their last contest with Marquette.
The Golden Eagles took control from the opening tip and built a 10-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half. Marquette held a 26-16 lead at halftime.
The Golden Eagles blew the game open with an 18-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the half and led 44-16. Marquette ended the game on a 21-11 run and won 67-31. Marquette took full advantage of its height, out-scoring SLU 42-12 in the paint and out-rebounding the Billikens 50-21.
“We struggled on the offensive end,” Pizzotti said. “We missed several opportunities early. That put us in a hole that was hard to battle out of.”
The Billikens traveled to Chicago for the final regular-season contest at DePaul. The contest was close in the opening minutes, but the Blue Demons took a 20-10 lead midway through the opening half.
The Billikens hit the offensive boards and changed the momentum of the game in the final two minutes of the half. All of SLU’s six second-chance points came just before the half and led to a 10-0 SLU run. That run pulled the Billikens to a 33-33 tie with DePaul at halftime.
Sophomore guard Christan Shelton and freshman guard Kirsti Holloway led the run, each scoring four points for the Billikens.
The second half was close until the Blue Demons went on a 5-0 run to provide some breathing room and a 45-40 lead. DePaul continued its hot shooting and built its lead to as many as 10.
SLU tried to fight back from the deficit and pulled to within three on a layup by Shelton with four minutes left. But DePaul converted its free throws down the stretch and won 60-52.
“It was a great game,” Pizzotti said. “We just fell short. I was pleased and proud of the team’s effort on Sunday. We got back in the grove on Sunday.”
