Dec. 17, 2009

Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Four players scored in double figures, and Saint Louis made some key plays down the stretch to preserve a 68-62 victory over Oakland Thursday night, snapping a three-game losing skid.

Amanda Kemezys and Katie Paganelli scored 17 points apiece to lead the Billikens, who improved to 4-6. Kemezys surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career - joining Paganelli, who accomplished the feat Dec. 6 - and now has 1,009 points. Lauren Woods added 12. Kemezys grabbed nine rebounds to tie for game-high honors.

Melissa Jeltema scored a game-high 25 points and added nine rebounds for Oakland, which slipped to 2-7 with its third straight loss. However, the Billikens held OU leading scorer Bethany Watterworth (14.6 ppg) to nine points.

"This game was all about toughness and finding a way to win," head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said. "We challenged our players in practice, and we challenged them in the second half when things were tight. It's always great to win, especially when players respond to a challenge. I think this game shows that we're getting tougher.

"I congratulate Amanda on scoring her 1,000th point," Gray-Miller added. "It makes it even better that it happened in such an important win for our team."

Trailing 33-28 at halftime, Oakland scored on its first four and seven of its first 10 second-half possessions to claim a 41-37 lead. The Billikens tallied seven of the next nine points on a Kemezys 3-point play, a Bradley jumper and a Kemezys layup for a 44-43 edge.

Five ties and five lead changes ensued before a Jeltema free throw put Oakland on top 59-58. Saint Louis suffered six straight scoreless possessions, but Oakland could not expand the lead until Riikka Terava made two free throws for a 61-58 edge. Woods responded with a conventional 3-point play to knot the score at 61 and followed with a pull-up 14-footer for a 63-61 SLU margin.

A Jeltema free throw sliced the lead to one. Following a Kemezys steal, Paganelli's tough drive for a layup gave Saint Louis a 65-62 lead. The Bills forced a miss and a held ball on Oakland's next trip down the floor and gained the ball on the alternating possession. With 14.7 seconds left, Woods was fouled on a drive and made the second of two free throws. The Billikens forced another turnover, the 12th of the second half for Oakland, and Janisha Gearlds sank two free throws to ice it.

Paganelli's 3-pointer on the Billikens' second possession gave Saint Louis the first lead of the contest. Following Kemezys' offensive rebound and layup that gave SLU a 5-4 lead, Paganelli buried another trey to make it 8-4 Bills. Woods sank two free throws, Bradley netted a long 2-pointer and Nicole Johnson converted two free throws after grabbing an offensive board for a 14-9 SLU advantage. The Billikens earned their largest lead of the half, 22-13, with treys by Bradley and Paganelli and another Paganelli basket.

Oakland trimmed the lead to 24-22 by scoring on five consecutive possessions, but Paganelli's driving layup restored order for the Bills. Following a dry spell for both teams, Kemezys scored twice around the bucket and Bradley drained a long 3-pointer for a 33-26 SLU lead. A late Oakland field goal made it a 33-28 game at the break.

The Bills shot 45.6 percent from the floor to Oakland's 40.7 percent. The Golden Grizzlies earned a 17-11 advantage at the foul line but made just one 3-pointer to the Billikens' five. Paganelli had three treys and Bradley registered two.

The Billikens conclude their road trip Saturday at Western Michigan. Tip time is 1 p.m. (CT).