The Lady Billikens traveled to Memphis on Sunday, Feb. 13 to play the Memphis Tigers at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The roar of the Tigers was too much for the floundering Billikens, who lost 70-52. Freshman standout Mia Johnson lead all scorers with 21 points, and also contributed and two steals.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 10-5 lead over the Billikens and never looked back. Jennifer Sullivan began the game with the hot hands scoring eight of Memphis's first 10. The Tigers continued to pour it on, increasing their lead to 17-5 until the Bills went on a 7-0 run capped off by Ava Smith's three-pointer from the top of the key.
Memphis answered with 10 straight until Johnson drained a long three, ending a scoreless drought that lasted almost five minutes. After two more Memphis buckets, making the score 31-17, Rachel Diener dropped in a three-point shot and Johnson and Marquita McFarland each followed with a drive to the basket, resulting in a Billiken lay up.
Memphis answered with another run of their own, to lead going into the half 36-24.
The second half began with a Johnson free throw, followed by another Billiken shot from three-point territory.
This time, it was Tyler McIlwrath connecting from downtown to pull SLU within eight.
After a Tiger free-throw and a Billiken bucket by McFarland, the Tigers led 37-30.
The lead grew to 48-36, when Marie Reid of Memphis scored six unanswered points.
Jackie Gilbert drove strong to the basket, twice resulting in two Billiken buckets and keeping the game within reach, with just under seven minutes to play.
But the Tigers kept on roaring and went on a 12-3 run to put the game out of reach for the Billikens.
Johnson shot 9-11 for the day at the free throw line in the game, in addition to shooting 5-12 from the field and 2-3 from beyond three-point range. Victoria Crawford led the Tigers with 17, followed closely by Jennifer Sullivan, who ended the game with 14 points.
McFarland had 10 points and seven rebounds, but it was Raven Rodgers who cleaned the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds, for the Memphis Tigers.
When asked about the game, point guard Jackie Gilbert said, "The shots were there, they just didn't fall today. We played hard, but it just didn't happen."
This was very evident as the Billikens shot a dismal 28.6 percent from the field.
The Billikens' poor shooting was exacerbated by the fact that Memphis shot 47.5 percent for the game.
The win allowed the Tigers to climb to 11-13 overall, including a 4-7 in Conference USA. The loss dropped the Saint Louis Billikens' record to 3-21, overall and 2-9 in Conference USA play. The Billikens play host to DePaul this Friday at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
The Billikens are looking to snap a four-game losing streak, in order to help boost them into the Conference USA tournament.
That is a daunting task against the Blue Demons, who were ranked 15th in the nation.
After DePaul, the Billikens remain at home for their final two games. They will play Marquette and Memphis on Sunday, Feb. 20 and Friday, Feb. 25, respectively.
