The pink uniforms helped bring breast cancer awareness to the fans, but they did not bring the Billikens any extra luck as they lost to the Temple Owls, 66-50.
The pink uniforms were a part of the “Play 4Kay” Initiative, created by the the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association to bring awareness to and raise money toward brest cancer research.The name “Play 4Kay” comes from former North Carolina State Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kay Yow, who passed away from breast cancer in 2009.
With the loss, the Billikens fall to 8-16 overall and a 2-7 record in the Atlantic 10. They now are in 11th place in the conference with just five games remaining in the regular season.
Temple won their seventh consecutive game over the Billikens and eight straight games overall with their win Wednesday night. The preseason favorite improves to 15-8 overall with an 8-1 conference record, good enough for third place in the A-10.
Desirae Ball and Courtney Webb both reached double figures for the Billikens by scoring 17 and 10 points, respectively. Lorreal Jones recorded eight strong rebounds, and Mallory Eggert pitched in seven of her own.
The Billiken defense could not stop the offensive attack of BJ Williams, however, as she scored a season-high 21 points for the Owls. Rateska Brown also scored a career-high 12 points, and Victoria Macaulay added a career-high-tying 10 points as well.
Billiken Janisha Gearlds played an unselfish game, recording a team-high four assists to compliment her 5 points.
At the end of the first half, the Billikens had kept the game within striking distance, only trailing by five and shooting 39.3 percent from the field, better than the 30.3 percent shot by the Owls.
The Billikens not only shot more accurately than the Owls, but they also out-rebounded them 36-35. SLU could not hold onto the ball however, committing 21 turnovers and giving the Owls many extra chances to score points.
The Owls, however, were able to shoot the ball more frequently throughout the game, outshooting the Billikens 63-51 due to the large amount of turnovers.
A strong-shooting second half put the game out of reach for SLU. SLU couldn’t keep the Owls from reaching the free-throw line, giving up 16 foul shots while only taking nine themselves. The Owls capitalized on the Billiken’s fouls, making 75.0 percent of their free throws.
The Bills jumped out ahead early, leading by nine points before the first media time-out. Temple responded forcefully though with an 11-1 run to regain the lead 16-15.
SLU hopes to bounce back from this tough loss and fight their way back into the middle of the A-10 race by winning against Saint Joseph’s Sunday, Feb. 12 in Philidelphia.
