Feb. 26, 2006

Final Stats

Bronx, N.Y. - The Saint Louis Billikens fell 70-58 at Fordham in Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball play on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Rams claimed the final position in the A-10 Tournament. The Rams opened the second half with a 16-3 run which proved to be the difference in the contest.

Marquita McFarland scored for the Billikens to trim Fordham's early lead to 6-5. However, the Rams scored nine straight to take a 15-5 lead. McFarland made a free throw to finally end the SLU scoreless streak. Diener hit two straight shots from the left wing to draw the Billikens closer. Tyler McIlwraith sank a long 3-pointer as she scored SLU's next nine points. She drove the right side for a layup and hit the subsequent free throw. On the Bills' next possession, she hit a transition trey as the Billikens closed to 25-19 with four minutes to play in the first half. The SLU defense held Fordham to just two free throws the rest of the half. Jackie Gilbert dropped in a short jumper, and Diener drilled a drive from the left. After forcing a Fordham turnover, McIlwraith made a short jumper in the lane at the buzzer as the Billikens trailed just 27-25 at intermission. The Billikens ended the first half on a 17-4 run which encompassed nearly the final eight minutes of the period.

The Rams began the second half with seven straight points until McIlwraith sank her third 3-pointer of the game. However, Fordham tacked on another 9-0 run to take a 43-28 lead four minutes into the second half. Hayley Leake answered with a trey for the Billikens. Diener then hit consecutive 3-pointers as the Bills cut the gap to 45-37 with 12:40 remaining in the game. Fordham rebuilt a double-digit lead with a 10-4 run and a 55-41 margin at the 7:07 mark. The Billikens made another charge as McFarland scored underneath off a McIlwraith assist. McIlwraith sank a 3-pointer, and after forcing a Ram turnover, Diener drained another trey as the Billikens closed to 57-49 with 4:20 left in the game. Fordham hit two free throws, but Diener made another 3-pointer. McIlwraith sank one free throw, and Diener's fifth trey of the game cut the Fordham led to 59-53 with 2:57 left. After two more Ram free throws, McFarland scored on a backdoor cut off a McIlwraith feed to make it 61-55 at the 2:02 mark. The Billikens stole the ball on the next Fordham possession but misfired on three shots, and the Rams got a three-point play to seal the victory.

With 20 points, Tyler McIlwraith moved into ninth place on SLU's single-season scoring list with 420 this year. Rachel Diener led the Billikens with 21 points and hit five 3-pointers. Lisa Carrol led Fordham with 23 points, 21 coming in the second half. The Billikens had 14 steals and forced Fordham into 23 turnovers.

The Billikens end the season at 7-20 overall, 4-12 in the A-10. The Rams improve to 10-17, 5-11 in the A-10.