In a game which saw more ups and downs than the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the past six months, the Saint Louis University Women’s basketball team welcomed the Southwest Missouri State Bears to the Bauman-Eberhart Center last night in a 76-67 duel of intrastate rivals last night.

The game saw it’s fair share of swings, with the Bears leading the entire first half until the Bills took the lead with three minutes left in the half and held onto it until halftime.

The Bills were down by as many as eight points in the first half thanks largely to the Bears stifling zone defense and their workmanlike attitude on the offensive and defensive glass. But the Bills regrouped and started picking holes in the SMSU zone and gradually took over the lead with two minutes left in the half, the score being 29-27. The Bills ended the half up 33-29 and carrying a full head of steam into the locker room.

“We found ways to beat the zone and find good shots to take,” coach Jill Pizzotti said.

The second half was an entirely different story though. The Bills were unable to carry their momentum out of halftime and the Bears capitalized, scoring 10 points on their first five possessions of the half and taking back the lead.

“We weren’t finding our shots and they were pressuring us constantly,” Pizzotti said.

Due largely to SMSU’s superior guard play and incredible outside shooting, the Bears extended their lead to 17 with less than six minutes to play.

“We weren’t surprised by their strategy. We knew they were perimeter oriented but they just executed it extremely well,” Pizzotti said.

But that’s where the tide shifted once more. The Bills were starting to chip away at the lead and had cut it to 12 when Harmonie King took over at the three minute mark. King reeled off nine straight points in the span of a minute and a half and the lead was cut to six. After an SMS free-throw bumped the score up to 70-63 in the Bear’s favor with less than a minute to play, but Jana Haywood put in a short jumper in the lane to cut the lead to only five. After an SMSU turnover, Kia Jones put back an errant Billikens shot and the lead was only three with 30 seconds to play. But that was as close as the Bills were to get.

SMSU, being an experienced team and not too far removed from a Final Four performance, knew what it took to win and that was hitting their free throws down the stretch, which they did.

And by going six for six from the foul line in the final 30 seconds the Bears successfully iced the game. Haywood led the Bills in scoring and rebounding, totaling 17 points and 9 rebounds. Star Jackson contributed 13 points and led the team with 5 assists.

“Every player out there wants to win. Our execution just wasn’t where it needed to be tonight,” Pizzotti said.

Their first loss came at the hands to perennial national power Tennessee in the San Juan Shootout by the score of 70-45. Earlier in the tournament the Bills defeated Army 61-56 and trounced Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 90-32. Haywood and Angie Lewis were named to the tournament’s All-Star team.