The women’s basketball team went into Reilly Center on Feb. 10 with the third-place spot in the Atlantic 10 Conference on mind. St. Bonaventure had their eyes on the same prize, as both teams were 8-2 in the conference.
SLU was also after shattering school records. With a win against the Bonnies, the women would have the record for most total wins, 19, and conference wins, 9, in a season. They would also tie the record for most number of road games won, 9, in a season.
SLU went into the game with revenge in mind, as the Bonnies own the series 8-3. The Bonnies have won six of the last seven games and have won every game at home. They continued that streak as they blew past the Billikens, 80-59, and the Billikens dropped to 8-3 in conference play.
The game started out slow, with neither team scoring for two and a half minutes. Finally, sophomore guard Jackie Kemph put in the first basket with a layup off senior center Denisha Womack’s rebound. However, over the next three minutes, the Bonnies went on a 10-0 run to take a strong lead, 12-2. The Billikens could not get past the strong offensive front from the Bonnies, and could only muster six more points out of the first quarter. St. Bonaventure led at the end of the first quarter, 23-8.
SLU opened things up again in the second quarter with a layup from senior center Sadie Stipanovich and a pair of free throws from Kemph. The Bonnies almost doubled the lead at the six-minute mark after a jumper and a layup to make it 30-16. The Bills couldn’t get much action for the rest of the quarter, scoring only 14 points in the second quarter. Kemph put in half of the 14 points, leading what offense the team could pull together. St. Bonaventure still pulled away easily at the half with a 47-22 lead.
After a break, SLU seemed to find some fire as senior guard Jamesia Price and Kemph scored back-to-back three-pointers at the seven-minute mark. However, the Bonnies kept up the consistency by keeping the Bills at a distance with a huge 26-point advantage. Kemph sank another three-pointer to trail 33-56. Despite two more pairs of free throws, SLU still trailed 63-40, not looking like much more could be done to bring the Bills closer to the Bonnies.
To start the fourth quarter, freshman guard Jordyn Frantz continued what Kemph started with her first three-pointer of the night. Kemph drove to the basket to draw a foul at 7:14 to make both free throws. She did the same thing again the next play to make a three-point play and draw the gap to under 20 points.
SLU took a timeout with four minutes to go, and the Bonnies drew a foul right away to go back to a 20-point lead. Kemph put matters back into her own hands with a three-pointer to answer, but the Bonnies put the Bills back on their heels with a three-point play of their own. Price powered back with a three-pointer to make it 73-56. Freshman guard Jazmin Samz got the last basket for the Billikens, a three-pointer, but the Bonnies finished it off with an 80-59 victory and sealed the deal at the number three spot in the conference.
Despite the offensive struggle on the Billikens’ end, Kemph had a staggering career high of 28 points, registering almost half of her team’s points on the game.
The Billikens will look to turn things around on Feb. 15 back at Chaifetz Arena against Davidson at 11:00 a.m. They will face Duquesne on Feb. 18, also at Chaifetz. The Dukes are currently sitting at the top of the conference with George Washington.
