The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team was in action once again this week, with an away game in Pittsburgh against the Duquesne Dukes (19-4, 6-2) on Feb.9. Before the game, head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller had a few things to say about the upcoming opponent.

“They [Duquesne] are coming off of a close loss against Temple, so I know that they are going to give us a real battle out there,” Gray-Miller said.

On Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, freshman forward Lorreal Jones pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, five offensive, to lead SLU in the Billikens’ 67-41 Atlantic 10 Conference loss.

Jones registered her eighth double-figure rebounding total of the season. Senior forward, Lauren Woods scored 10 points, and senior guard Ayriell Robinson added eight. Senior center Kathryn Hester returned to action on Wednesday night and netted six points in her first game since an injury against Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 8.

The Lady Bills will come home for a day and then head back out to the east coast for a match up against the Rhode Island Rams (6-16, 0-8) on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. (CST).

“We are really excited about playing Rhode Island. We always seem to play well against them,” Gray-Miller said.

The basketball game at Rhode Island will be nationally televised on CBS College Sports. This will be the first game that will be nationally televised for the Lady Bills.

“It is a great opportunity for Billiken fans across the country to get a look at our players in action,” Gray-Miller said.

After the Billikens loss at Duquesne, they are 7-17 on the season and 1-8 in conference play.

Although their record may not reflect a winning season, the Lady Bills are in the stages of building a strong and successful program. Sophomore guard, Ashley Hanlen, talked about what is means to play Billiken basketball and what the goals of the basketball program in the near future.

“The game plan for the rest of the year is to play Billiken basketball, all the way until the end. Billiken basketball is defined by five characteristics:  heart, passion,

toughness, discipline and success. If each and every one of us comes into the game mentally prepared with a winning mindset, then we will succeed,î Hanlen said.

After this weekendís road trip at Rhode Island, the Billikens will return home on Wednesday, Feb.16 at 7 p.m. to face Xavier University Musketeers in the annual Pink Zone game.