A series of runs by the opposition in the second half handed Saint Louis University (8-13, 3-3) its third Atlantic 10 loss on Wednesday, Jan. 30. The Bills fell 69-52 to Xavier (15-6, 5-1).
Ta’Shia Phillips finished with 22 points for the Musketeers. Six of those came in a 10-0 run that put Xavier in command. That lead would prove too much for SLU.
The Bills were beat at the post after sophomore forward Amy Klotz suffered an injury and sat out the second half. Women’s Basketball Coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said the extent of Klotz’ injury is unknown.
The absence of Klotz left Xavier unguarded. The Musketeers took advantage of their height, only putting up three shots from outside the paint in the second half.
“They took advantage of the inside point,” Gray-Miller said. “Xavier stepped it up in the second half and made an adjustment. They played really well.”
The Billikens came out strong in the first half, hitting five of its first six shots to take a 14-8 lead. Sophomore guard Katie Paganelli scored 8 points in the opening run and would finish with 17 points on the night.
Sophomore forward Maggie Hennegan returned after missing three games due to injury. She replaced the injured Klotz at post in the second half. Hennegan finished with 14 points, going 4-of-4 at the free-throw line.
The Bills shot 16-62 from the field, 3-12 from behind the arc and pulled down 40 rebounds.
Gray-Miller said that she is proud of the team’s effort, despite the loss.
“We played well,” she said. “The box score doesn’t show that, but we played really well the first half; we played hard the second half. I’m in no way disappointed with the effort of the team.”
Senior guard Jackie Gilbert, agreeing with Gray-Miller, said the team played well, but fell short defending the post.
“[Xavier] beat us at the post,” Gilbert said. “They had the height advantage.”
The loss takes SLU to an even .500 in A-10 conference play. The team was picked by NCAA coaches to place ninth in league standings. Gray-Miller said she is determined her team will do better than expected.
“We’ve always been underdogs,” Gray-Miller said. “We placed better than they expected us to last year, and I’m very excited and optimistic about conference.”
The Bills’ next test is this weekend against A-10 rival Charlotte (14-8, 5-1) tomorrow night. Tip-off begins at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center at 7 p.m.
The 49ers have won the last 10 meetings with the Bills, including a 62-56 victory last January. Charlotte leads the A-10 in standings at 5-1.
“The key to winning against Charlotte will be our transition,” Gray-Miller said. “We will have to stop the running game. Our defense will have to transition well.”
Junior forward Danielle Burgin and senior guard Sabrina Gregory led the team in points-per-game with 11.3 and 10.8, respectively.
“Against Charlotte, we will have to box out and play hard,” Gilbert said. “And we must improve from Xavier and be strong at the post.”
