Nov. 26, 2004

Final Stats

St. Louis - Alabama A&M knocked off Saint Louis 48-44 tonight in the first game of the Coca Cola Billiken Classic at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Lady Bulldogs forward Tamisha Augustin knocked in two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to thwart a determined Billiken rally.

In a first half that saw the teams miss 43 of the 53 shots attempted, the Billikens jumped to a 9-0 lead as sophomore guard Yanique Javois and freshman forward Marquita McFarland each had a pair of lay-ins. The Billikens held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless for the first 9:39 until Alabama A&M forward Kimberly Pratcher knocked down a pair of free throws. But after Javois' second basket gave SLU a 13-8 edge, the Billikens went scoreless for the final 5:21 of the half.

The Lady Bulldogs' Ashleonte Samuel knotted the game at 13 with a free throw. Alabama A&M closed the half with Pratcher drilling two tosses and forward Tamika Green dropping in a lay-up to take a 17-13 lead to the locker room. The Billikens shot only 17.9 percent (5-28) in the first half, but Alabama A&M was barely better at 20 percent (5-25).

The pace of the game picked up in the second half, and Bills freshman forward Kerry Rapp gave SLU a 29-27 lead on a short turnaround. But Alabama A&M went on an 14-1 run as the Lady Bulldogs got five straight lay-ups in either their transition game or against the Bills' fronting post players. SLU's Rachel Diener finally broke the string with her second trey of the game.

Trailing 43-33, Saint Louis went to a full court, trapping defense and climbed back to within 43-40 on McFarland's two free throws. After a Lady Bulldogs turnover, Diener missed a trey to tie it. The Lady Bulldogs LaShowann Smith connected on a fast break lay-up for a 45-40 lead, but SLU's McFarland knocked down two more free throws with 23 seconds left. After Alabama A&M's Tamisha Augustin made only one of two tosses, the Bills' McFarland drained two more. The Bills fouled on the inbounds, and this time A&M's Augustin drilled both to ice it with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Alabama A&M (1-1) will play in the championship game tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs shot 32 percent from the field and didn't make a three-point goal, but were an excellent 84.2 percent from the line. A&M also out-rebounded the Bills 42-36. Smith topped A&M with nine points.

SLU shot 25.9 percent from the floor, 13.3 percent from the arc and only 66,7 percent from the line. The Bills also were plagued with 26 turnovers. ,McFarland led the Bills with 12 points, and Mia Johnson added 11. The Billikens (0-2) play in the consolation game tomorrow night at 6 p.m.