Jan. 5, 2001

Box Score

St. Louis - Tulane's Sarah Goree hit two free throws with eight seconds remaining in the game as the visiting Green Wave rallied for a thrilling 52-51 victory over Saint Louis on Friday evening. Billiken sophomore Christan Shelton had a 15-foot jumper from the left wing that just went long at the buzzer which would have given the Billikens their first-ever win over Tulane.

The Green Wave had a 48-44 lead with 4:01 left in the game before the Billikens rallied. Star Jackson hit a 3-pointer to pull the Billikens to 48-47 with 3:29 remaining. The Green Wave missed three straight lay-ups on its next possession and the Billikens took the lead on a driving lay-up by Jackson. April McKinney rattled in a short jumper to give SLU a 51-48 margin with 1:46 left to play. Salome Hector, playing her first game since injuring her knee last season, stole the ball which led to a lay-up by Janelle Burse to pull Tulane to 51-50 with 43 seconds remaining in the game. Melissa Oliver had a chance to extend the Bills lead with 21 seconds left to play but missed the front end of a one-and-one. In the ensuing scramble for the ball, Goree was fouled and sank both free throws. The Billikens quickly inbounded the ball to Jackson who drove down the lane before kicking the ball out to Shelton on the wing. Shelton had a good look at the basket but her shot was found the far side of the rim as Tulane held on for the victory.

Star Jackson led the Billikens with 11 points and added five rebounds to go along with three assists. Shelton added eight points and six rebounds. Melissa Oliver scored six points and had career highs of eight rebounds and seven assists. For Tulane, Janelle Burse posted a double-double with game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Gwen Slaughter added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Billikens led for most of the first half and held an early 14-4 lead with 9:18 to play in the first half. Saint Louis held Tulane without a basket for over 11 minutes and settled for a 27-23 lead at intermission. Both teams displayed their trademark stifling defense as Tulane shot just 37.0 percent from the field while the Billikens managed only 31.6 percent. The loss was the first for the Billikens this season after leading at halftime.

The Billikens see their five-game winning streak snapped and fall to 10-3, 1-1 in Conference USA. Tulane, the preseason pick to win the league title, improves to 9-5, 2-0 in C-USA. The Billikens are next in action on Sun., Jan. 7, when they travel to Southern Miss for a 2:30 p.m. tip-off.