While many Saint Louis University students relaxed over Thanksgiving weekend, the Women’s Basketball team got down to business, playing games on Wednesday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 24.
SLU beat the Mavericks of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Omaha, thanks in part to strong efforts from junior Lorreal Jones and senior Mallory Eggert; both scored 12 points. Jones narrowly missed a double-double, collecting nine rebounds.
The offensive effort was not the only part of the Billiken’s play that was impressive. Their defense limited UNO to 42 points in the game, far lower than their previous low of the season (58 points), and their season average (72 points). SLU also led on the boards, doubling the rebound total of the Mavericks, 46-23.
Jamie Nash and Paige Frauendorfer both led the Mavericks with 11 points in the game. The victory for the Billikens was the first of the season and the first for new head coach, Lisa Stone. The final score was 51-42.
Saturday was the home opener for SLU, and the Billikens delighted the crowd with a victory over Western Illinois, 55-44. Leading the way for SLU was red-shirt senior Courtney Webb with a game-high 16 points. Lorreal Jones added 12 points and Mallory Eggert contributed 11.
SLU’s defense was on display as the Billikens forced the Leathernecks to spread the ball around and use a variety of players. Ashley Luke led the Leathernecks with six points.
In this game, Western Illinois used a total of 14 players, none of whom played even 30 minutes while SLU used only nine players. The Billikens’ starting five all recorded over 30 minutes.
In the upcoming week, the Billikens will play Indiana State on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. in Chaifetz Arena. The Bills will then travel to Indiana to play Valparaiso on Saturday, Dec. 1, and will return to play University of Illinois-Chicago on Monday, Dec. 3.
