Feb. 26, 2010
COMING UP - The Saint Louis Billikens (11-17, 5-8 A-10), winners of three straight and four of their last five games, complete the regular season Sunday, Feb. 28, against Atlantic 10 Conference opponent Richmond (17-11, 6-7 A-10). Game time at Chaifetz Arena is noon. The game will be nationally televised by CBS College Sports.
FOLLOWING THE ACTION - All home games are audio streamed live and free of charge on radio station KSLU's Web site, kslu.slu.edu, and live stats are available free of charge on GameTracker at www.slubillikens.com. All Billiken home games are video streamed live on the Internet via Billiken All-Access at www.slubillikens.com. Subscriptions are available for $79.95 annually or $9.95 a month.
TICKET INFORMATION - Tickets for all women's basketball home games can be purchased at the Chaifetz Arena ticket office, by phone at (314) 977-4SLU or online at www.slubillikens.com.
PINK ZONE, OTHER ACTIVITIES ON TAP THIS SUNDAY - Saint Louis University is one of more than 1,550 schools and organizations participating in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Pink Zone initiative, a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness. The Billiken women's basketball team will take part in the campaign Sunday. Fans are encouraged to wear pink, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a free pink Billiken T-shirt. The Billikens will wear pink uniforms. In addition, SLU is participating in Take a Kid to the Game, which encourages adults to take children to intercollegiate athletic contests. Saint Louis is partnered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters in this important program. Following the game, Billiken seniors Amanda Kemezys and Katie Paganelli will be honored on the court. A reception and autograph session for fans will follow the senior ceremony.
A LOOK AHEAD - The Billikens will travel to the Washington, D.C., suburb of Upper Marlboro, Md., for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship next week. The 12-team tournament, the winner of which earns the A-10's automatic NCAA Tournament bid, begins Friday, March 5, with four first-round games at Show Place Arena. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday, followed by the semifinals Sunday and the title game Monday. CBS College Sports will televise the semifinals (11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. CT), while ESPN2 will air the championship tilt (4 p.m. CT). To purchase tickets, visit the women's basketball page at www.atlantic10.com and go to "Buy Tickets Now" on the right side.
LAST TIME OUT - Saint Louis enjoyed a fast start in both halves and hung on for a 65-60 win at George Washington Feb. 23, its first-ever victory over the Colonials. Coupled with the Billikens' win at Fordham one week earlier, the victory gave SLU consecutive conference road triumphs for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign when the program competed in Conference USA. Amanda Kemezys scored a game-high 20 points (9-of-13 FG) and added 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Katie Paganelli scored 14 points and tied her career best with a game-high four steals, Lauren Woods tossed in 13 points and Kathryn Hester (5-of-7 FG) added 10. Janisha Gearlds dished out a game-high six assists and committed just one turnover. The Bills shot 45.5 percent from the field and had just 12 turnovers, tying their season low in an A-10 game. Saint Louis also tied its season high in conference play with 11 steals.
ABOUT THE BILLIKENS - Amanda Kemezys (12.8 ppg) and Katie Paganelli (11.4 ppg). Kemezys tops the SLU charts in rebounding (9.3 rpg), offensive rebounding (3.0 orpg) and blocks (20). Paganelli leads the team in free-throw percentage (.841) and 3-pointers (54) and has 39 steals. Kathryn Hester owns a team-high .537 shooting mark from the field, followed by Kemezys at .502.
SCOUTING RICHMOND - Richmond, a 24-game winner and WNIT participant last season, leads the A-10 in steals (11.1 spg) and turnover margin (+5.2). Junior guard Brittani Shells, a first-team All-Conference and All-Defensive honoree last year, leads the conference in scoring (16.7 ppg) and steals (2.7 spg). Sophomore guard Abby Oliver owns a 9.1 scoring average, while junior center Crystal Goring has a team-high 5.6 rebounding average. Sixth-year head coach Michael Shafer is 80-72 at the helm.
THE RICHMOND SERIES - The Billikens lead the series 3-2. Richmond's 66-58 victory last season in Richmond snapped Saint Louis' three-game series winning streak. SLU captured a 60-55 win in the last meeting on the Bills' home court two years ago. The largest margin of victory in the series is eight points (three times), and the average margin of victory is seven points.
BILLIKENS IN THE A-10 STATISTICAL RANKINGS (ALL GAMES) - Through games of Feb. 25, the Billikens lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in free-throw attempts per game (20.0) and also rank in the upper half of the league in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (third, .309), scoring offense (fifth, 62.4 ppg), free-throw percentage (fifth, .693), offensive rebounding (fifth, 13.2 orpg) and rebounding margin (seventh, +0.4). Individually, Amanda Kemezys is third in the league in rebounding (9.3 rpg), fourth in offensive rebounding (3.0 orpg), seventh in field-goal percentage (.502) and 10th in scoring (12.8 ppg). Katie Paganelli is tied for fourth in 3-point field goals per game (1.9) and sixth in free-throw percentage (.841). Janisha Gearlds is seventh in assists (3.1 apg).
BILLIKENS IN THE A-10 STATISTICAL RANKINGS (CONFERENCE GAMES) - In conference games only through Feb. 25, the Billikens rank third in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.295) and free-throw attempts per game (18.1), fourth in steals (8.1 spg), fifth in 3-point field-goal percentage (.339), offensive rebounding (12.4 orpg) and turnover margin (+0.4), sixth in free-throw percentage (.702) and seventh in scoring offense (59.8 ppg). Individually, Amanda Kemezys is tied for fourth in offensive rebounding (2.9 orpg), seventh in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.479), while Katie Paganelli is tied for third in 3-point field goals per game (2.3). Lauren Woods is eighth in scoring (14.5 ppg) and tied for 10th in minutes played (32.8 mpg), and Kathryn Hester is fourth in field-goal percentage (.510).
BILLS IN THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS - Through games of Feb. 21, Amanda Kemezys ranks 48th nationally in rebounding.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - Amanda Kemezys became the 15th Billiken to achieve the milestone with a basket late in the first half. Kemezys is now tied for 11th on the Saint Louis career list with 1,211 points.
KEMEZYS ASSAULTS RECORD BOOK - On the Saint Louis career lists, Amanda Kemezys is third in rebounds (806), fourth in blocks (81) and sixth in free throws made (273). Kemezys also is in position to finish among the top 10 in rebounding average (current career average 7.7), field-goal percentage (currently .502) and free-throw percentage (currently .734). In addition, Kemezys is on pace to break SLU's single-season record for rebounds. She has 260 caroms, and the school mark is 267 set by Jamie Cavaness in the 1995-96 campaign. Kemezys' 260 boards are the most ever by a Billiken senior.
PAGANELLI MOVING UP - Katie Paganelli has taken over second place on SLU's career 3-point field goals list with 166 treys. She has 131 steals, good for ninth in program history, and needs five assists to secure a top-10 spot. With a career .779 free-throw mark, she has a chance to finish among the top five in SLU history.
SEASONAL WORK - Three players have claimed spots on SLU's all-time single-season lists. Amanda Kemezys is fourth with 260 rebounds and Katie Paganelli is tied for eighth with 54 3-pointers. On the Billikens' all-time season lists by class, Kemezys is first among seniors in rebounds (260) and fifth in blocks (20), Woods is second among juniors in free throws (131) and fourth in points (400), and Paganelli is second among seniors in 3-pointers (54).
20-20 VISION - Lauren Woods scored 27 points at Fordham and followed with 21 points against Charlotte, the first back-to-back 20-point scoring efforts of her career and the first time this season a Billiken has tallied at least 20 points in consecutive outings.
GUARDS HITTING THE BOARDS - Katie Paganelli has averaged 5.0 caroms in the last seven outings, with 18 of her 35 rebounds in those games coming on the offensive glass.
OFFENSE COMING AROUND - Saint Louis averaged 66 points in the last five games, its most productive five-game stretch in Atlantic 10 Conference games this season.
REBOUNDING GOING SLU'S WAY - The Billikens have out-rebounded their opponents in five of the last seven games, with an overall +31 margin in those contests.
KEMEZYS, HESTER ON THE MARK - Amanda Kemezys is 27-of-45 (.600) from the floor in the last five games, while fellow post player Kathryn Hester is 19-of-28 (.679) in the last four outings. Their performances have helped the Billikens shoot a solid 46.3 percent in the last four contests, much higher than the team's season mark of 38.7 percent.
THE FLOOR GENERAL - Janisha Gearlds has nine assists and just two turnovers in the last two games. Gearlds has a 4.2 assists average in the last five outings.
NECK AND NECK - In addition to being just 14 points apart in career scoring, Amanda Kemezys and Katie Paganelli are battling for bragging rights in another category. Kemezys has 65 career double-figure scoring performances, while Paganelli has 64.
A HELPING HAND - Katie Paganelli has a 3.4 assists average in the last five contests.
HEATING UP AT THE STRIPE - Lauren Woods, whose 270 career free throws rank seventh on SLU's all-time list, has become one of the Billikens' most reliable foul shooters. Woods is 113-of-155 (.729) from the stripe in the last 21 outings. She had a career-high 13 free-throw attempts against Tennessee Tech, followed with 12 against Bradley, tallied 10 against Massachusetts, Dayton and Fordham, and chalked up 12 against Charlotte.
VOLLEYBALL STANDOUT ADDED TO ROSTER - The Billikens have added senior forward Sammi McCloud to their roster. McCloud was a four-year standout on the SLU volleyball team, earning A-10 Player of the Year honors and helping lead Saint Louis to the NCAA Tournament her final two seasons. She tallied an assist at Saint Joseph's, a steal at Fordham, two rebounds vs. Charlotte and a rebound at George Washington.
KEMEZYS SELECTED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT - Amanda Kemezys was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 7 women's basketball second team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Kemezys' selection to the Academic All-District team is her first and the fifth for the SLU women's basketball program, four of which have occurred during head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller's tenure. Kemezys is an education major with a concentration in middle-school mathematics.
