Jan. 7, 2001

Box Score

Hattiesburg, Miss - The Saint Louis University women's basketball team played its first Conference USA road contest of the season and posted a 64-54 victory against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Sunday.

The Billikens used a 5-0 in the final minute of the first half to take a 28-24 lead at intermission. SLU opened the second half with six straight points and moved out to a 34-24 lead. Southern Miss answered with a 10-4 run to cut the led to 38-35 with 13:25 left to play. Star Jackson stole the ball and went in for an uncontested lay-up to key a 6-0 spurt by the Bills. Melissa Oliver hit a jumper with 5:38 left to play in the game as the Billikens took its biggest lead of the game at 54-42.

At the end of the first half, Melissa Oliver sank a 15-footer from the right wing.

Shelton hit 10-of-16 shots and matched her career high with 20 points. Melissa Oliver added 14 points and posted her second-straight career high with nine rebounds. Shelton and Oliver combined to score 26 of the team's 36 points in the second half. Bujaker finished with six points and handed out a career-high four assists. Jessica Woods led Southern Miss with 20 points and added eight rebounds while Dana Jones chipped in 10 points.

The Billikens shot just 35.3 percent in the first half, but hit at a 48.5 percent clip in the second half. SLU forced Southern Miss into 25 turnovers and the Golden Eagles became the seventh team the Billikens have held below 55 points this season. The victory in Hattiesburg was the first in three tries for the Billikens all-time.

The Billikens improve to 11-3, 2-1 in Conference USA while Southern Miss is now 7-6, 1-2 in C-USA. SLU returns to action next Sunday in Charlotte, N.C. when they take on the Charlotte 49ers in a Noon (CT) game.