The road wasn’t very friendly last weekend to the Saint Louis University women’s basketball team, who lost two games at TCU and Houston.
This Friday night, the Billikens hope to sweep this season’s series with Memphis at 7 p.m. at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. The game will be crucial for the Billikens hopes of claiming a spot in the Conference USA Tournament.
“We’re heading into the last three games of the year. There are five teams in the league that have five wins, and they are battling for the fifth through ninth spots,” said coach Jill Pizzotti. “Memphis is going to come in and play hard and pressure us for 40 minutes.”
The evening will be the final home game for the Bills and will honor the team’s seven seniors. Additionally, the Billikens will team up with the St. Louis affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
At halftime, a breast cancer survivor will speak, and informational booths from Komen St. Louis will be in the lobby of the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Two dollars from every paid admission will be donated to Komen St. Louis. This is the second year of the partnership between the women’s basketball program at SLU and Komen St. Louis.
“Our basketball games are a good platform for women’s issues,” Pizzotti said. “Anytime we can help bring awareness to the fight against and finding a cure for breast cancer, we want to bring attention to it. We want to try to do our part to help the cause.”
Sunday, the Billikens took the Houston Cougars to overtime, but a late 10-0 run quickly put a damper on any hopes of a SLU victory.
“Houston was a tough game for us,” Pizzotti said. “[Houston guard] Chandi Jones did everything she was supposed to. She scored 37 points and had 10 rebounds.”
After a close first half, the Bills came out quickly at the start of the second half and went on a 6-0 run.
Houston answered with an 11-point run, but Billiken forward Angie Lewis snapped Houston’s hot streak with a layup to keep the Bills’ cushion at three. Star Jackson and Jana Haywood took control of SLU’s offensive game, combining for 12 points in the final minutes of regulation.
In the last three minutes of the second half, SLU and Houston traded points, but things heated up in the final plays of the game. After a missed Houston shot, Jackson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game with a little over a minute left. Houston’s Jones missed a layup, and LaKia Jones had a chance to seal the game for SLU in the final ticks, but her shot rimmed out. After a last-chance shot from Chandi Jones, the game went into overtime.
Kiki Harris hit the first overtime shot for Houston, but Jackson answered by hitting a pair of free throws. SLU’s luck ran out when Houston went on a 10-point run that the Bills could not bounce back from, despite a three-pointer from Harmonie King. Houston closed out the game after Crystal Simpson made three shots from the free throw line to end it 80-73.
“Stephanie Solomon was eight for 11 from the floor, had seven rebounds and put in some big minutes. Jana Haywood had a great weekend and scored 17 points. She also had the responsibility to cover Chandi Jones,” Pizzotti said.
Friday night, TCU dominated the Billikens, taking a 33-22 halftime lead and maintaining control during the second half. The Bills looked like they had a chance to rally, sparked by a Haywood jumper. Lewis followed with a three-point play and a jumper from Shanda Greer cut TCU’s lead in half.
“At TCU, we had a tough night shooting,” Pizzotti said. “We had a hard time making up for it later in the night.”
TCU capitalized on three straight SLU turnovers to increase their lead to 46-33. Later, Melissa Oliver narrowed the gap with a steal and a layup to make the score 48-39, but TCU managed to stay ahead, even after a layup from Stephanie Solomon.
Late in the game, Lewis was at the line and netted a pair of free throws to cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to seven points with just under three minutes left. The teams traded missed shots, and in the final minute of play, Lewis converted a steal into a layup, but the Bills were too far behind to catch TCU. Tricia Payne and Sandora Irvin each hit a pair of free throws to make the final score 65-54.
