ST. LOUIS — The Billikens held Duquesne University (Pa.) to its second-lowest points total of the season, but the Dukes topped SLU 59-47 Saturday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens (5-11 overall, 0-3 Atlantic 10) also forced the Dukes (11-6 overall, 3-1 A-10) into their third-worst shooting performance of the season (37.3 percent). But 21 turnovers and 2-of-10 shooting from 3-point range by SLU helped Duquesne pull out the victory.
Desirae Ball scored a team-high 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting for Saint Louis. Sadie Stipanovich notched eight points and Briana Gray chipped in seven points in 11 minutes. Lexi Lopez snagged a team-high eight rebounds.
Wumi Agunbiade made all seven of her free-throw attempts in scoring a game-high 17 points for Duquesne. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. April Robinson recorded 11 points and Raegan Moore had 10.
Olivia Jakubicek hit a layup to pull Saint Louis to within six at the 5:54 mark of the second half. But the Dukes went on a 10-1 run during the next three and a half minutes to turn a 47-41 lead into a 57-42 advantage.
After Duquesne took a 29-25 lead into halftime, SLU scored the first six points of the second half to grab a 31-29 edge. But the Dukes answered with an 11-2 spurt to go up 40-33.
Saint Louis jumped out to a 6-3 advantage and regained the lead at 12-11 on a Ball 3-pointer. The Bills stayed within striking distance of Duquesne the remainder of the first half before the Dukes pulled away late in the second half.
SLU shot 40.5 percent from the field for the game, including 10-of-21 shooting (47.6 percent) in the first half. Duquesne was 8 of 27 from the field in the first half (29.6 percent). But the Dukes attempted nine more shots than the Billikens for the game, in part because of Duquesne's 10 offensive rebounds and 13 steals.
The Bills are back in action Saturday, Jan. 18 as they travel to Olean, N.Y., to take on St. Bonaventure in an A-10 tilt. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m. CST.
Written by Josh Sellmeyer, Saint Louis sports information assistant.
