Jan. 18, 2007

Final Stats

Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Saint Louis Billikens put on a valiant rally but came up short 78-70 at Duquesne on Thursday evening at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Dukes built a 24-point lead early in the second half, and the Billikens came back to within seven, but they could not draw any closer as Duquesne held on.

Katie Paganelli drew a foul and hit one free throw to open the game, but Duquesne's Carmen Bruce scored the Dukes' first six points of the contest. Baskets by Maggie Hennegan and a trey by Theresa Lisch kept the Billikens close. The Dukes were up by four until a Tyler McIlwraith 3-pointer cut the lead to 12-11. The Dukes led 20-15 but the Billikens reeled off 10 unanswered points. Lisch sank two free throws, before a Cara Young trey tied the game at 20-20. Hennegan converted two throws to put the Billikens up 22-20 at the 8:05 mark. A Lisch 3-pointer pushed the Billikens on top by five to close out the run.

The Dukes came back to tie the game at 29-29 with five minutes left in the first half. However, the Billikens did not score the rest of the way as Duquesne pulled out to a 45-29 lead at half.

The Dukes led by 24 before the Billikens stormed back into the contest with a 13-2 run. McIlwraith scored on a reverse layup and hit a trey from the top of the key. Hennegan converted inside to cut the gap to 58-45 with 11:44 remaining in the game. The Billikens cut the deficit to 12 on a Jackie Gilbert baseline layup. The Dukes led 66-51 but a basket by Lisch and a steal by Hennegan led to another Gilbert bucket to pull SLU to 66-55 with 7:18 remaining in the contest. An up-and-under move by Hennegan cut the gap to single digits at the 6:29 mark, 66-57. Two charity tosses by Rachel Diener pulled the Billikens to within 68-61 with 5:05 left to play. The Dukes hit four free throws to rebuild a double-digit lead, and the Billikens did not score on their next four possessions as Duquesne held on for the win.

Maggie Hennegan registered a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Theresa Lisch finished with 17 points and six assists for the Billikens. Carmen Bruce tied her career high with 24 points to lead Duquesne, while Jocelyn Chandler had 22 points.

The Billikens fall to 8-10 overall, 0-4 in the A-10. The Dukes improve to 7-9 overall, 2-1 in the A-10. The Billikens return to action on Sun., Jan. 21, when they host Saint Joseph's for a 1 p.m. game at Bauman-Eberhardt Center.