It was a weekend of firsts for the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team.
Last Friday, the ninth seeded Billikens defeated the eighth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles 43-40 for the first time ever. With the victory, the Billikens advanced to the second round of the Conference USA Tournament for the first time since 1999.
On Saturday, the Billikens lost to the top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs 68-57 in the second round.
“They were tough games,” said junior forward Angie Lewis. “We played hard. Unfortunately, everything didn’t turn out the way we hoped.”
On Saturday, SLU and TCU battled through a close first half. Neither team led by more than five points.
Both teams asserted themselves, with SLU leading early. Then the Horned Frogs were able to put some distance between themselves and the Billikens. TCU led 32-28 at the half.
Junior guard Harmonie King led SLU with eight points in the half. Lewis chipped in with six points. Junior guard Christan Shelton led SLU on the boards with seven rebounds as the Billikens out-rebounded TCU 24-23.
Even though SLU shot 23 percent from the field, the Billikens hit 12 of their 17 free throws. SLU held the Horned Frogs to 36 percent shooting from the field.
TCU began to pull away after the intermission and grabbed a 47-37 lead with 13 minutes left in the game. The Horned Frogs maintained their 10-point margin through the rest of the contest and prevailed 68-57.
Lewis was SLU’s leading scorer with 15 points. King and junior guard Star Jackson added 14 points apiece. Jackson also dished out three assists. Shelton led SLU with nine rebounds.
SLU shot 27 percent from the field for the game, but hit 21 of 30 free throws for 71 percent. TCU shot 40 percent from the field and 43 percent from behind the arc. The Horned Frogs out-rebounded the Billikens 47-38. SLU forced 16 TCU turnovers.
“We played hard. TCU was bigger than us at most positions,” said coach Jill Pizzotti. “I give credit to our ladies. They played hard. We shut down some of their weapons. Ashanti Nix came into the game for TCU and had a tremendous second half. She was the difference in the game.”
The Billikens advanced to the game with TCU after a win over Marquette in the opening round. It was SLU’s first win in 27 attempts against the Golden Eagles.
The Billikens imposed their defensive pressure on the game and jumped out to a 13-5 lead eight minutes into the game.
Marquette chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the game at 21 at the halftime buzzer on a basket by Marquette forward Sara Zawodny.
Shelton led SLU with 10 points and five rebounds. King recorded five rebounds and four assists. SLU shot 31 percent from the field and held Marquette to 23 percent from the field and 14 percent from three-point range.
The Golden Eagles shot themselves in the foot, converting only 50 percent of their free throw attempts.
In such a close game, any sort of run could make the difference. Marquette struck just after the intermission and built a five-point lead. But SLU was able to counter. The Billikens held the Golden Eagles to four points in the final 11 minutes. That defensive effort enabled the Billikens to pull ahead.
SLU pulled away with a 10-1 run that lasted the final 11 minutes of the game. The run gave SLU a 43-37 lead with four seconds left. A Marquette three at the buzzer rounded out the scoring-as SLU won 43-40.
Sophomore guard Kirsti Holloway led SLU with 11 points. Shelton added 10 points to the Billikens’ effort. Junior forward LaKia Jones hit the boards for SLU, pulling down 15 rebounds.
SLU shot 29 percent from the floor and 36 percent from behind the arc. The Billikens also hit seven of their 10 free throws. SLU out-rebounded Marquette 49-41. The Billikens’ defense held Marquette to 25 percent shooting from the floor. The Golden Eagles shot 22 percent from behind the arc and only 50 percent from the charity stripe.
“We played extremely hard,” Pizzotti said. “It was a hard-fought battle. We knew that Marquette executes well on the defensive end. We battled, even though we struggled on the offensive end at times.”
Three Billikens were honored with conference awards before the tournament began.
Lewis was named to the All-Conference Third Team. Lewis was SLU’s leading scorer and rebounder with 13.8 points per game and eight rebounds per game. Lewis was ninth in the conference in scoring and seventh in rebounding.
“The honor was well-deserved,” Pizzotti said. “She worked hard over the summer. She was our most consistent scorer and came through for us throughout the year. We’re looking for bigger things from her the next two years.”
Junior guard Greta Bujaker and Holloway both received the Commissioner’s Medal of Honor for academic excellence.
