Jan. 15, 2006

Final Stats

St. Louis - Saint Louis held off Duquesne 59-54 this afternoon as the Billikens notched their first win in Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Sophomore guard Heather Leake buried two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to sew up the victory.

"We made history in getting our first Atlantic 10 victory," Billiken head coach Shimmy Gray said. "I'm very happy for our players because they have worked so hard the last couple weeks. We keyed in on stopping Aiga Bautre, but most importantly we looked to stop their 3-point shooters. We have struggled recently in stopping the 3-pointer and that was a point of emphasis the last two days. I am so proud of the way the kids stepped up and responded in stopping a great 3-point shooting team. We were poised today and have grown a lot in learning how to win, and that is a big deal for us."

Saint Louis put together its best half of the season in the first 20 minutes as the Billikens built their largest lead of the year 32-16 at the break. The Bills shot 50 percent from the field while limiting Duquesne to 24 percent shooting in the first session. It was the Bills' best defensive half since holding Yale to 18 points.

Leading 15-12, Saint Louis went on a 15-2 run to take a commanding lead. Juniors Tyler McIwraith and Rachel Diener ignited the surge as McIwraith drained a pair of treys, while Diener connected on two free throws and hit a triple in transition. Diener also matched her career high with six assists in the first half and finished with a game-high seven.

Early in the second half, Duquesne (6-10, 1-4) was determined to get the ball to the rim against SLU's 2-3 zone as Nicole Sinclair got two lay-ups and Loui Hall tallied another. But the Bills responded with two fastbreak lay-ups after steals. Leake broke up a 2-on-1 leading to Marquita MacFarland's break-away lay-in. Diener tossed in another lay-up after a theft, and SLU led 39-22.

When Duquesne's Kristi Little came off the bench to give the Dukes some offensive punch with two jumpers, Duquesne cut the lead to 43-31. SLU's Heather King countered with two baskets and a free throw as the Bills pushed their advantage to 48-31.

Duquesne made its final push with a 19-7 run highlighted by deep threeballs from Maria Stankevich, Carmen Bruce and Malgorzatta Flaga. Flaga's long bomb from the right side pulled the Dukes to within 55-50. The Bills didn't wilt under the pressure as McFarland knocked in two free throws before Leake sealed the deal.

McIlwraith led all scorers with 17 points, while King chipped in with 15 and McFarland added 10. SLU shot 47.9 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from the arc and 72.7 percent from the line.

Sinclair and Little topped Duquesne with 11 points apiece, and Sinclair grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Hall added 10 points. The Dukes shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the second half to finish at 43.1 percent for the game, 18.8 percent from the three-point line and 53.8 percent from the stripe. The Billikens held Duquesne's leading scorer Aiga Bautre, who was averaging nearly 14 ppg, scoreless.

Saint Louis (4-12, 1-4) entertains Charlotte on Sun., Jan. 22, at 2 p.m.