The planets were aligned Friday night for the Saint Louis University women”s basketball team, as they knocked off Conference USA rival Memphis in a 64-56 thriller.
Billiken guard Star Jackson led the way offensively, tying her career high with 20 points, including six free throws in the last minute of the game to clinch the win.
‘It”s important to hit free throws; it can mean the difference between winning and losing a game,’ Jackson said.
With one minute on the clock and the Bills up by just four points, Jackson drove toward the basket through traffic and was swatted by Memphis” Victoria Crawford. Jackson made both free throws to pad SLU”s lead.
The Tigers crept closer to the Bills in a heated final 30 seconds, but a foul on Memphis” Kalara McFadyen sent Jackson to the line again, where she calmly swished another pair of free throws to keep the Billikens ahead
SLU”s defense was unrelenting in the final moments of the game, allowing Memphis to score just one basket in the last minute.
Jackson capped off the win after Jordie Soso was called for a holding foul and sent Jackson to the free throw line, where she closed the game with 13 seconds left.
‘Star (Jackson) had a tremendous night,’ said coach Jill Pizzotti. ‘She was the glue that held us together tonight. Her mentality was to attack and play at them the whole night. I can”t say enough about her. She was extremely key tonight.’
SLU”s defense remained steady throughout the night and helped the Billikens jump on the Tigers by as much as 16 points in the second half after dominating the first half.
Seven minutes into the second half, SLU appeared to be in complete control of the ballgame. The Billikens were led by the heroics of Melissa Oliver.
Within 20 seconds, Oliver scored on a jumper and a layup on which she was fouled by Kaneshi Hart. Oliver missed the free throw but grabbed her own rebound and immediately put back in a layup to give the Billikens a 16-point advantage.
SLU continued to pressure Memphis offensively throughout the half, and was helped by a layup from Stephanie Solomon off a feed from LaKia Jones with just under five minutes remaining. A few seconds later, Jana Haywood fired a shot from three-point territory, giving the Billikens a comfortable 57-44 lead.
Memphis sought to narrow SLU”s wide margin late in the half and managed to whittle the Billikens” lead to four points. Late in the half, Jones fouled out when she was called for a block and sent Crawford to the line, which began Memphis” late run. The Bills committed three straight turnovers and allowed Memphis to score seven points in 15 seconds, to bring the game within four points.
After the short-lived attempted comeback by Memphis, the Tigers fell apart and missed nearly every shot in the final few minutes of the game, and Jackson took 11 free throws in the final minute, sinking six of them.
Jackson”s 20 points was a game high however she also pulled down six rebounds and chipped in two assists.
Haywood finished behind Jackson with a solid 13 points; she tied her career high of nine rebounds. Oliver contributed eight points. Angie Lewis was solid defensively and ended the night with eight boards.
‘Melissa Oliver gave us a big boost off the bench,’ Pizzotti said. ‘LaKrisha Brown played very well, so did Jana Haywood. Jana hit an awfully big three late in the second half.’
The Billikens held Memphis” leading scorer, Shannon Hamp, to 10 points, significantly less than her average of 16.8 points per game. Princess Swiley, normally an offensive threat, was also held to only 10 points.
‘Stephanie Solomon did a good job defending Shannon Hamp. The key was to try to hold her down,’ Pizzotti said.
The Billikens have their final home games this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. tilt with Louisville on Friday, followed by Senior Day at 2 p.m. on Sunday against Cincinnati.
The Billikens are contending with four other teams (Louisville, Southern Miss, Memphis and TCU) to earn a high seed in the conference tournament.
With the win over Memphis, the Bills secured a season above .500, making them contenders to win the upcoming Conference USA Tournament.
‘We are in an excellent position right now to finish in the top four (of C-USA), depending on the outcome of the next few games. We”ll just have to wait and see,’ Haywood said.
