BILLIKENS REACH HALFWAY POINT OF A-10 SLATE - Saint Louis (9-12, 3-3 A-10) concludes the first half of the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule at home against Massachusetts (3-19, 1-6 A-10) Thursday, Feb. 7. Game time at Chaifetz Arena is 8 p.m.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION - The SLU-Massachusetts game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network. John Sadak will handle play-by-play duties, while Julianne Viani provides analysis. A channel finder is available here. Also, live statistics are available. The live stats link can be found in the schedule box located just below the main photo on www.SLUBillikens.com.

LAST TIME OUT - Desirae Ball scored a career-high 22 points to power Saint Louis to a 66-49 victory over Xavier Jan. 31, snapping SLU's 14-game series losing streak against the Musketeers. Ball's 8-of-11 shooting effort included a career-high four 3-pointers (4-of-5); the Billikens shot a season-best 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from beyond the arc en route to a season-high point total and season-high victory margin. Jacy Bradley netted 10 points, and Halee Castleman tied her career high with nine points while grabbing seven rebounds. Lorreal Jones narrowly missed a third consecutive double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds, including five offensive boards. The Billikens shot 52.2 percent from the floor, their best mark in a league game this season. SLU earned a 32-16 rebounding advantage - its second-largest margin overall and biggest edge in A-10 play this year - and limited Xavier to three offensive boards.

BILLIKEN LEADERS - SLU features a balanced offensive attack, with five players averaging between 8.8 and 11.8 points. Lorreal Jones leads the way at 11.8 ppg, followed by Desirae Ball (9.0 ppg), Jacy Bradley (9.0 ppg), Courtney Webb (9.0 ppg) and Mallory Eggert (8.8 ppg). Jones also tops the SLU charts in rebounding (8.3 rpg), offensive rebounding (3.2 orpg) and field goal shooting (.485). Eggert pulls down 6.3 rebounds per game, with Bradley (4.1 rpg) and Halee Castleman (4.0 rpg) battling for third. Bradley averages a team-high 4.7 assists. Webb and Bradley lead the Bills in 3-point field goals with 30 and 26, respectively.

SCOUTING UMASS - Jasmine Watson leads the Minutewomen in scoring (11.9 ppg), field goal shooting (.505, third in the A-10) and blocks (31) and is second in rebounding (6.4 rpg). Emily Mital and Rashida Timbilla average 8.9 and 8.6 points, respectively. Timbilla hauls in a team-high 8.5 rebounds per contest, good for sixth in the A-10, while Mital has 44 3-pointers to rank fifth in the league. Timbilla is third in the conference with 3.8 offensive rebounds per game.