January 30, 2000
Box Score
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis (9-11, 2-7) built an 18-point second half lead and withstood a late Southern Miss (10-10, 4-5) rally to beat the Golden Eagles 64-57 in a Conference USA women's basketball game this afternoon at the historic Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center on the University campus. Christan Shelton scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the second half as the Bills snapped a five-game losing streak.
"We were able to convert our defensive pressure into baskets in the second half, and that was the difference," Billikens head coach Jill Pizzotti said. "We got Christan Shelton involved early in the second half and that opened things up down on the block for Bridget Beckmann and LaKia Jones. We also got another big lift from Melissa Oliver off the bench."
Saint Louis broke out to an early 8-2 advantage on Oliver's lay-up with 13:57 remaining in the half, but the Bills went dry for the next 5:40 as they failed to convert numerous USM turnovers into points. When Oliver connected on another lay-up at the 8:17 mark, the Bills were trailing 16-10.
Saint Louis closed the first half with a 7-0 run as it held USM scoreless for the final 2:37. Trailing 23-19, the Bills' Harmonie King drilled a three and both Shelton and Mandy Luecking knocked down a pair of free throws to give SLU a 26-23 halftime edge.
The Billikens continued the strong defensive effort at the beginning of the second half by holding the Eagles scoreless for the first 5:19 and running off 15 unanswered points. Shelton connected on three jumpers in the Bills' rally as Saint Louis built the margin to 41-23 with 14:53 to play.
Southern Miss didn't fold its tent though, and answered with a quick 9-0 run of its own. Oliver slowed that momentum with a pair of jumpers, and SLU still led by 11 with just over 11 minutes to play. Saint Louis maintained an uneasy five to nine point advantage until USM made its final push.
USM closed to within 6-57 with 33 seconds left in regulation on a long-range three by Angela Johnson. The Billikens turned the ball over, and the Eagles rushed a bevy of three-point shots in an attempt to tie, one of which was blocked by Jones.
The Billikens closed the game as Lueking dropped in a pair of free throws with 13 seconds to play, and Beckmann did the same with five seconds remaining. The Billikens' defense forced USM into 24 turnovers and limited USM to 37.5 percent from the field. The Bills shot 42.6 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Eagles 38-33.
Saint Louis featured balanced scoring with five players in double figures. Lueking popped in 13 points, Oliver contributed 12 , and both Jones and Beckmann had 10 apiece. Angela Atterbery led the Eagles with 20. Johnson finished with 12, and Kim Young added 10.
