Feb. 16, 2010

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - Lauren Woods scored a career- and Saint Louis season-high 27 points, including 18 in the second half, and the Billikens tallied a season-high point total in an Atlantic 10 Conference game for a second consecutive outing in a 71-60 victory over Fordham Tuesday night at Rose Hill Gym.

Woods was 9-of-11 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, vaulting her into 10th place on SLU's career list for free throws made. Her shooting performance helped the Billikens (9-17, 3-8 A-10) shoot a season-high 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the floor.

Kathryn Hester scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while Amanda Kemezys (5-of-6) added 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Katie Paganelli and Jacy Bradley collected five and four assists, respectively, and Bradley grabbed a career- and team-high eight rebounds to help lift SLU to a 40-28 advantage on the boards.

Fordham (8-19, 2-10 A-10) was led by Randall Hurst's season-high-tying 23 points. Kristina Bell scored 15 points, Becky Peters tallied 10 points and Charlotte Stoddart had eight rebounds.

"There is no such thing as an ugly road win," head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said. "We came in knowing this game would be a battle because both teams were looking to move up in the standings to improve their A-10 Tournament chances. Our players responded to everything Fordham threw at them and showed tremendous toughness and focus.

"Lauren's numbers speak for themselves," Gray-Miller said. "She was outstanding on the offensive end. And I'm happy for Kat Hester because she needed a breakout game like this.

"In addition to the outstanding individual performances, I felt like we had a complete team effort," Gray-Miller said. "This win will give us momentum as we head into our final three regular-season games."

After Paganelli nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Billikens a 3-0 lead, Fordham scored the next nine points. But after Bell's layup put Fordham on top 9-3, the Rams scored on just one of their next 13 possessions while Saint Louis enjoyed a 17-2 outburst to establish its largest lead of the first half.

Hester scored the first six points of the run on a 15-foot baseline jumper, a layup and an eight-foot bank shot. Woods' baseline 12-footer tied the score at 11, and her 3-pointer from the right wing put the Bills in front 14-11. Kemezys hit a short jumper in the lane followed by a layup, and Woods' layup punctuated the run and gave SLU a 20-11 cushion at the 9:23 mark.

Bell's 3-pointer ended the Fordham drought and ignited a 13-4 Rams run. Hurst hit two free throws, followed by another trey from Bell and one from Hurst. Peters' fast-break layup made it a 24-all game with 4:08 left.

The Bills righted the ship, however, and ended the half on a 10-4 spurt. Kemezys buried a 16-footer to beat the shot clock, and Woods hit a jumper and was fouled. She missed the free throw but chased down the rebound, and Kemezys made it pay off with a baseline jumper for a 30-24 SLU lead. Hester netted a short baseline jumper, then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to give Saint Louis a 34-28 lead at intermission.

SLU pulled away with an 11-0 run in the second half. Woods' drive and pull-up jumper sparked the flurry, and Bradley's long 3-pointer gave the Billikens their first double-digit lead, 47-37. Paganelli and Bradley drove for layups, and Woods capped the spurt with two free throws that gave the Bills their largest lead, 53-37. Fordham narrowed the gap to 10 points on three occasions in the final 1:18 but drew no closer.

The Billikens return home to host Charlotte Thursday, Feb. 18. Tip time at Chaifetz Arena is 7 p.m.