Nov. 13, 2006

Box Score

St. Louis - The Saint Louis Billikens put six players in double figures and posted an 83-63 victory over Chicago State on Monday evening at Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Tyler McIlwraith led the Billikens with 16 points. With the win, the Billikens open a season 2-0 for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

"It is nice to know we can win games when we do not play at our best," head coach Tyler McIlwraith and Cara Young gave us a lift off the bench with a big 3-pointer. I continue to be impressed with the team's transformation in our second year."

The Billikens started quickly and scored the first six points of the game before Chicago State made one free throw. The Billikens shot the ball well in the early going as they hit their first four shots from the field and eventually built an 8-1 margin. The Cougars slowly inched back into the game and as close as 12-10, but the Billikens rattled off seven straight, capped by Tyler McIlwraith deep 3-pointer from the left side for a 19-10 advantage.

After a basket by Cara Young drained a trey from the left corner as the Billikens built a 29-17 advantage with just under eight minutes left to play in the half. Chicago State chipped into the lead and closed to 31-24 with just over four minutes left to play in the period. The Billikens answered with a 10-0 run as another McIlwraith trey, and Amy Klotz three-point play punctuated the run to build the biggest lead of the half 41-24 with 2:13 left to play. SLU still led 43-26 before CSU scored the last four points of the period to trim the lead to 43-30 at the break. McIlwraith poured in 14 points in the first half to pace the Billikens. In addition, SLU held the Cougars without a second chance point.

Chicago State began the second half on an 8-2 run before Amy Klotz scored inside off a dish from Theresa Lisch, and Maggie Hennegan scored a fastbreak bucket on an assist from Katie Paganelli for a 52-38 lead with 14 minutes left to play. CSU cut the gap to 10 before the Billikens scored seven straight points. Paganelli sank two free throws and Klotz converted an inside pass from Lisch for a 59-45 advantage with 7:40 remaining. Lisch drilled a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired for a 62-45 lead with six minutes left to play. The Cougars got as close as 11 points, but the Billikens held on for the win.

In addition to her 16 points, McIlwraith handed out six assists and added three rebounds. Amy Klotz hit six-of-eight shots from the field and tallied 15 points, while Maggie Hennegan pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Ayesha Neasley and Chandra Timberlake both notched double-doubles for the Cougars (0-2) with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and 14 points and 10 rebounds, respectively. The Billikens forced CSU into 26 turnovers. The Billikens scored 85 points in the their opener against Akron and have now scored at least 80 points in consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the 1999-2000 season.

The Billikens return to action on Wed., Nov. 15, when they host Tennessee State for a 7 p.m. game at Bauman-Eberhardt Center.