The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team again fell
short of collecting wins on the road. The Billikens lost to No. 13
DePaul, 73-65, on Friday and lost again on Saturday to Marquette,
73-50. The Bills have not won a conference game on the road this
season.
The Blue Demons started off the game and quickly took the lead
with eight straight points. The Bills answered with four points of
their own at 13:24.
Near the 10-minute mark the Billikens stayed close and were only
down by one, 14-13. For DePaul, Khara Smith scored 11 points in a
row.
The Bills would not let the Blue Demons completely pull away
with the lead and went on a 6-0 run of their own.
Stephanie Solomon sank a lay up at the end of the first half,
leaving the score 34-27 at the break.
“Being able to keep up with a ranked team shows that we are good
enough to play with any team,” senior forward Angie Lewis said. “We
made some mistakes, but it just shows us that if we get the little
things right, we can beat any team.”
The Blue Demons came out strong at the beginning of the second
half going on an 8-2 run followed by a 10-4 outburst. This was the
biggest lead for DePaul with the score 52-33. Lewis and Lakrisha
Brown gave the Bills a chance and scored the next 10 points for SLU
getting them back in the game 56-43.
The Bills kept coming on strong and cropped the Blue Demon lead
to 10 with just over five minutes left in the game. The Bills had
two chances to cut the lead to single digits, but were unable to
make a basket.
“When we got down we always fought back,” Lewis said. “We never
let them take complete control of the game.” Both teams traded a
basket, and with 1:16 left in the game, freshman Yanique Javois
made a fast break lay-up to pull the Bills back within 10.
Senior Kirsti Holloway scored two three-pointers in the final
minute of the game, but DePaul cashed in seven out of eight
free-throws to put down the Billiken threat and secure the victory
for themselves.
Lewis scored 28 points and had nine rebounds. Brown had 12
points off the bench and added five rebounds to her own in the
futile Billiken effort.
The Bills looked to Sunday’s game for a much-needed win but came
up short again, falling to Marquette 73-50.
Marquette took the early lead with Carolyn Kieger scoring the
first seven points for the Golden Eagles. Lewis scored two baskets
for the Bills, but had to be taken out at the 13:47 when she earned
her second foul. Jana Haywood worked hard to keep the Billikens in
the game, scoring 11 first-half points and the Billikens fought
valiantly for much of the half.
The Bills were within four with just over six minutes left in
the half, but the Golden Eagles went on an 11-4 run to end the half
36-25.
Marquette came out of the locker room ready to finish the game
strong and went on a 9-2 run. Holloway sank two three-pointers in
hopes of rallying the team, but the Golden Eagles commanded the
lead for the rest of the game and were able to set the tempo and
control the ball for the rest of the game.
“We had a lot of unforced turnovers,” Lewis said. “We need to
take care of the ball better, and that would have helped with our
confidence.”
Lewis and Holloway both scored 12 points for the Bills while
Haywood had 11. The Bills also had a season-high 27 turnovers.
The Bills’ last home game is Friday against Memphis at the
Bauman-Eberhardt Center at 7 p.m. The game will mark the last at
home for seniors Jana Haywood, Kirsti Holloway, Angie Lewis and
Stephanie Solomon.
The four seniors have been through a lot of ups and downs with
past Billiken teams, including last year’s surprising rise as the
season progressed and eventual invitation to the National
Invitational Tournament for the first time in the team’s
history.
Now, the task at hand is finishing out the season strong in
their final two contests against Memphis and advancing into the
post-season tournament.
“These next two games will be filled with a lot of emotion,”
Lewis said. “We really need to win these next games to secure a
place in the conference tournament.”
In Conference USA the teams in the last two spots in the
standings at the close of the season do not get to play in the
tournament.
Home Finale
Who: Memphis Tigers
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Bauman-Eberhardt Center
