The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team pulled off two big wins last weekend against Louisville 70-66, and Cincinnati 69-63. The Billikens finished their regular season tied for fifth place in the league. They will face Louisville in the Conference USA Tournament today at 3 p.m.
With only 20 seconds off the clock, Harmonie King sank a three-pointer to give the first points of the game to the Billikens. Through the entire first half, each team played hard defense and good offense. Cincinnati led for most of the half, but the biggest lead they could achieve was five points. At the end of the half, the Bearcats were up 37-35.
“One of the things we need to work on is protecting the lead,” said guard Star Jackson. “We end up getting in foul trouble and they end up shooting their way back into the game. I thought tonight we did a better job of protecting it,” said guard Star Jackson.
The Bills came out of the locker room, scoring five points while playing hard defense and keeping the Bearcats from scoring almost four minutes had ticked off the clock.
The second half looked much like the first half, with neither team dominating the other. With 10:31 left on the clock the Bills took the lead for the final time that night with a jump shot by Haywood.
A three-pointer by the Bearcats with one minute remaining put them within two, 65-63. This shot would be the last points of the game for Cincinnati. With 26 seconds left, Jackson was fouled and she calmly sank both of her foul shots. Jackson was then fouled again with 11 seconds remaining and consistently sank both shots again, putting the score 69-63 for the final.
“We’ve had trouble being consistent, I thought the way the ladies finished out the game tonight was good. They kept battling, and Star hit some really big free throws for us,” said coach Jill Pizzotti.
King led the Bills with 16 points, which includes the four three-pointers she made. Haywood had her first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Angie Lewis added her own 10 points to the score. The win marked the 17th of the season–the most wins the team has had since 1980.
“It feels great to raise the bar. 8-6 (in C-USA) sounds so much better than 7-7. Finishing fifth in the league is a good accomplishment for these ladies. I want players and teams to reach their potential, and we have enough talent to do it,” Pizzotti said.
Friday night’s game started off with the Cardinals going on a 9-1 run for the first four minutes of the game. The Bills were able to slowly come back with hard defense and good shots. With just over 11:00 remaining in the first half, senior Harmonie King hit a three-pointer to tie the game 16-16. Neither team would take a commanding lead, and the score going into halftime was tied at 29.
“We were able to control the tempo and play with the intensity we wanted. We just came out and played our game,” King said. The Bills at 7:33 left in the game had as much as a 16-point lead 60-54.
“Melissa Oliver brought good defensive intensity to the game. Our players were very unselfish, they enjoy watching each other be successful. They went for the extra pass for the easy layup, instead of a more difficult shot,” Pizzotti said. However, the Cardinals were able to slowly, yet effectively, chip away at the lead with a 14-0 run.
“We started fouling them, which started a domino effect. They were able to put points on the board without taking any time off the clock with the foul shots we gave them,” King said.
With a big three-pointer from the Cardinals, they were able to come within two with 41 seconds remaining. Two foul shots by King put the Bills once again up by four, 67-63. Another three-pointer by the Cardinals’ Sarah Nord, would bring them within one.
With less than 20 seconds left, senior Star Jackson was fouled. She calmly sank both of her free throws, putting SLU back up by three. The Cardinals would try for some last minute three-point shots, but nothing would go in for them. With five seconds left, Jana Haywood netted one free throw, ending the game 70-66.
