Under sixth-year head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller, the Saint Louis University Billikens women’s basketball team has carved itself an identity.
“Our theme is Billiken Basketball. We’re always reinforcing toughness, heart, discipline and passion. We just encourage people to work hard. We don’t take plays off,” senior All-Conference selection Lauren Woods said.
Woods was named as an Atlantic 10 Conference honorable mention last year and a preseason 2nd All A-10 team selection coming into this season. As a captain, Woods embodies the principles of selflessness and team-play put forth by Gray-Miller.
“It’s exciting, it’s motivating [to be named all-conference], but it wouldn’t be possible without my teammates. They push me every day, and we work together and without playing with a great group of girls it would have never happened,” Woods said.
With Gray-Miller at the helm, the Billikens have improved on and off the court. Beyond the continued yearly improvement in the win-loss column, Gray-Miller has produced all-conference performers, academic All-Americans, and has overseen a drastic increase in home attendance.
This year, despite losing two of the top three leading scorers from an 11-19 (5-9) squad that placed ninth in the A-10, the mood remains optimistic among players, coaches and fans.
Woods brings her 14.1 PPG and senior leadership to a squad that has plenty of experience—eight key contributors return for this season.
Aside from Woods, seniors Kathryn Hester, Ayriell Robinson and Nicole Johnson bring their four years of experience to the team. Hester, a 6’2” center who started the last 14 games of the season, was named the Billikens’ most improved player last year after bouncing back from an injury that sidelined her for nine weeks of practice. After returning to game form, Hester shined in the paint, producing eight double-figure scoring efforts.
“She missed a lot of conditioning,” Gray-Miller said. “It took all of the non-conference schedule to get her back in to game shape, but she’s right where she left off at the end of the year last year.”
The squad welcomes a freshman class which boasts five high school all-state selections, headlined by Detroit native Lorreal Jones.
“Lorreal Jones will be a big, big factor this year. She’s so versatile. She can play every position, 1 through 5,” Hester said. Woods characterized her as “a tough defender, good on both ends of the court.”
From the guard position, Halee Castleman and Janisha Gearlds look to pace the Billikens on offense with their ball-handling and floor vision. Gearlds, a junior, has shown remarkable improvement throughout her career, not unlike the rest of her teammates.
“People look at her improvement, from how timid she was as a freshman to how relentless she is in leading our team, and are impressed. She works so hard, and it goes unnoticed a lot, but her growth will show this year,” Hester said.
No matter how potent the offense, though, the pillars of Billiken basketball will always rest on the foundations of hard-nosed defense and a strong work ethic.
“We practice hard. It prepares us very well for games and the different drills help us propel to that next level. We stick to our defensive principles and boxing out and playing as a team. We’re doing a good job of playing team basketball,” Woods said.
The Billikens opened up exhibition play against Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis, looking to tune up for the grueling season awaiting them. However, the squad was pushed to the brink, squeaking out an 82-78 victory.
Despite the emphasis on defense stressed in the off-season, the 82-point outburst saw four Billikens score in double figures. The Billikens trailed by four at halftime, and the game was tied at 73, with 2:30 remaining, but Gearlds scored six of the Bill’s eight last points to ice the victory.
“It certainly wasn’t the way we wanted to start. No matter what you say to motivate, the reality is that it’s a D-I school going against a D-II school in an exhibition. It means everything to one team, but nothing to another. We showed intensity when the game was on the line, but it’s not how we want to start,” Gray-Miller said.
Despite the close margin, the Bills found some positives to build upon for the rest of the season.
“We took UMSL as a learning experience. It was the first time we’d played against anyone besides ourselves in practice, and it was our first game together and being able to play helped us learn our weaknesses and things we need to work on,” Woods said.
The Billikens wrapped up exhibition play against Rockhurst. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Bills were eager to let the world know that the USML score was a fluke. Getting back to their defensive roots, SLU put a stranglehold on Rockhurst, holding them to a grand total of 22 points in the 56-22 victory. The score resembled a football contest more than basketball, with the Billikens leading by a tally of 45-8 at one point.
“We’d been working so hard on our defense all off-season and to let UMSL score 78 points on us, it was unheard of. Considering how hard we had worked, we wanted to see results,” Hester said.
The Billikens are staring down a schedule that features 13 teams who competed in postseason play last year, including four NCAA tournament teams. The conference itself features Dayton, Xavier and Temple, three of the four NCAA teams on the Billikens slate. While most coaches are content with scheduling “cupcakes” to ease their team into the regular season, Gray-Miller opted to kick off against University of Wisconsin, a team that advanced to the NCAA tournament and recorded 21 wins last year.
“I want to see where we are on Nov. 12, instead of Dec. 12 or Jan. 12. It’s a manageable schedule. Wisconsin won’t make or break our season, but it’s a chance to see what our team is about,” Gray-Miller said.
With an experienced core of upperclassmen and a group of talented freshman looking to contribute, the Billikens are on the verge of making some noise in the Atlantic 10.
