To follow up a dramatic win in triple-overtime against Dayton last week, the Women’s Basketball Team headed on the road to take on the A-10 leading VCU Rams at their home in Richmond, Va. on Jan. 27. The Billikens were unsuccessful in trying to break the Rams down and ended up falling for their fourth conference loss, bringing their new record to 3-4 in the A-10.

Freshman Ciaja Harbison led the way for the Bills with 19 points, and fellow freshman Brooke Flowers led with 11 rebounds.

The first quarter remained close throughout, including three ties and five lead changes until the Rams were able to close out the quarter just one point ahead, with a 13-12 lead. VCU took more of a lead in the second quarter with an eight-point run, but SLU senior  Jordyn Frantz nailed a trey and Flowers followed it with a layup to bring the score back within range for the Bills. The Rams took off with a 7-0 run and gave the home team their biggest lead of the game going into half time, 30-22.

SLU shared the ball well at the start of the second half with four different players scoring to pull the Billikens within four with a few minutes remaining in the third. SLU kept the game close behind a few defensive stops, but they were unable to convert to gain the lead back. The Rams got the momentum and went on an 11-0 run to secure VCU’s win for good.

The game remained a double-digit lead until the closing seconds. The final score was 57-47, the Billikens falling to 8-12 on the year and VCU moving to 14-6,  holding onto their lead in the conference.

Flowers had her seventh double-digit rebound game of the season, and Harbison’s scoring performance earned her A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for the seventh time this season.

With just eight games left in the season, Harbison leads the Billikens in a number of categories, including scoring, assists, minutes and free throw percentage. Harbison is within the top five in the conference for points per game, coming in at fourth, averaging 14.9, and is in second for assists with 4.5. Flowers is also in the top five in the conference for rebounding at fifth with about 7.3 per game. Frantz is second in the conference in three-pointers

The Bills return to Chaifetz Arena Thursday at 7 p.m. to take on George Mason. The Patriots come into the game 3-3 in the standings with an overall record of 11-8.