The annual Atlantic 10 (A-10) Tournament, the championship tournament for the A-10 conference, is consistently a highly anticipated event in men’s and women’s collegiate basketball. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, commonly known as “March Madness.” Neither the men or womens Billikens were able to claim a bid to the NCAA tournament this year.
The following is a recap of both the men’s and women’s A-10 Tournament play and its results.
Men’s Tournament
The SLU men’s basketball team has been in an A-10 championship drought for the past six years, having not won the tournament since 2019. This, along with it being Josh Schertz’s first season as head coach of the Billikens, means fans were eager to see SLU come out on top this year.
The men entered this year’s tournament as the number five seed in the Atlantic 10 conference, which was good enough to earn them a first-round bye. SLU played its first game against the number 12-ranked Davidson Wildcats, whom the Billikens were able to top during regular season play this year. The game ended with a score of 57-56.
The Billikens earned themselves a win once again against the Wildcats in their first game of the tournament, ending the first half up 36-31 and finishing with a final score of 83-75.
The top scorers for this game included Isaiah Swope with 26 points, Gibson Jimerson with 25 points, who also broke SLU’s record for single-season three-pointers during the game, and Amari McCottry with 15 points. This win against Davidson meant SLU advanced to the quarterfinals to play against the number four-ranked Loyola Chicago Ramblers.
Due to their seed within the conference, Loyola Chicago had a double bye and played their first tournament game against SLU. Earlier this year, during the regular season, the Billikens fell to the Ramblers with a score of 78-69, but then claimed a win in early March, outscoring the Ramblers 98-67.
In the recent A-10 quarterfinal game, SLU was unable to overcome Loyola Chicago, finishing the first half down eight points with a score of 38-30. Swope put up an impressive 30 points throughout the game, but the Billikens were unable to capitalize on Swope’s individual scoring to pull ahead. The Ramblers secured the win with a score of 72-64, ending SLU’s run for the NCAA Tournament.
Even though Schertz’s team did not come out on top, the coach applauded his team during the post game press conference for how far they have come this season.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team improve more in the middle of the season to the end than this group. I’m incredibly proud of them,” Schertz said.
Although the men’s basketball team will not be making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, fans were still able to watch the team compete in the postseason. The Billikens earned a spot in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and began gameplay on Tuesday, March 18, where they ultimately lost to Arkansas State.
Women’s Tournament
The SLU women’s basketball team entered the A-10 Tournament as the number 10 seed after ending the regular season with a record of 13-18 and a conference record of 7-11. The Billikens faced the number 15 seeded St. Bonaventure Bonnies in the first round of gameplay after losing to them earlier in the season, 68-66.
These two teams have not played each other in the A-10 tournament since 2010, when the Bonnies claimed the victory. This time, the SLU women were able to turn it around. Top scorers for the Billikens in this matchup included Kennedy Calhoun with 20, who also exceeded 1,000 career points during the game, Peyton Kennedy with 13, and Shun’teria Anumele with 10.
SLU rounded out the first half with a score of 38-27 before finishing the game with a final score of 60-50. This win allowed them to advance to the second round, where they competed against the number 7 seeded UMass Minutewomen.
Brooklyn Gray led the Billikens to their second win of the tournament, scoring the most points in a single game by any player on the team this season with 30. Peyton Kennedy contributed 13 and exceeded 1,500 career points, while Hannah Wallace rounded out the top scorers for the women, putting up six. The Billikens led at the half, outscoring the Minutewomen 31-25. By the end of the game, SLU had extended its lead to 67-57 to capture the win and move onto the next round of the tournament.
Next up was the quarterfinals where the women’s basketball team faced the number two-ranked George Mason Patriots. Competing against the highly seeded opponent proved to be a challenge for the Billikens, who fell 40-21 by halftime. Although SLU was able to narrow the score in the second half, they were unable to pull off the win, ending the game down 30 points with a score of 87-57 in favor of George Mason.
This ended the SLU women’s run for the NCAA tournament and marked the finale of their season.
