ST. LOUIS – Trailing by a double-digit margin early in the game, Saint Louis held La Salle to 25 points over the final 31:55 and defeated the Explorers 53-43 in Atlantic 10 Conference action Saturday at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens (8-13, 3-5) concluded the first half of the A-10 schedule with a three-game winning streak and snapped a three-game series losing skid against La Salle (10-11, 5-4). The Explorers have dropped four of five since beginning conference play 4-0.
Desirae Ball led the SLU attack with 13 points, followed by Sadie Stipanovich with 11 points and Jamesia Price with 10. Denisha Womack narrowly missed a third consecutive double-double, recording nine points and a career- and game-high 15 rebounds.
Price added seven rebounds and a game-high four assists, Erin Nelson tied a career high with seven rebounds, and Stipanovich grabbed six boards.
La Salle's Alicia Cropper scored a game-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and a game-high three steals. Micahya Owens tallied 12 points, while Leeza Burdgess collected a team-high seven rebounds.
The Billikens shot a season-high 31 free throws and outscored the Explorers 20-9 at the foul line. SLU earned a 50-42 advantage on the boards.
Saint Louis trailed 18-7 after Cropper hit a 3-pointer at the 11:55 mark of the first half, part of her 15-point effort in the opening stanza. However, La Salle scored just four more points the rest of the half.
The Billikens began their climb back into the game with two Olivia Jakubicek free throws. Price hit two from the stripe and followed with a layup, and Nelson's jumper with 8:01 left cut the La Salle lead to 18-15.
Cropper ended a La Salle scoring drought of more than six minutes with a jumper, but SLU tied it at 20 on a short Stipanovich jumper and a Ball 3-pointer. Cropper and Stipanovich traded buckets for a 22-22 halftime deadlock.
In the second half, La Salle briefly regained the upper hand at 25-24. Saint Louis went on top 29-25 on Price's three-point play and Womack's jumper, but La Salle used two free throws by Owens and Cropper's fast-break layup to knot the score at 29.
That's when the Billikens took command. Stipanovich scored six points in a 10-0 spurt that gave Saint Louis a 39-29 cushion with 12:36 remaining, and the Bills expanded the lead to 42-31 at the 11:47 mark.
The SLU advantage floated between eight and 11 points until a basket by Owens made it 48-41 with 2:45 left. It was 50-43 with 1:59 to play after Ball's layup and Cropper's two free throws.
That would conclude the La Salle scoring, however, as Saint Louis put the finishing touches on a defensive effort that resulted in the lowest point total by a Billiken A-10 opponent this season.
The Billikens are back at Chaifetz Arena Wednesday, Feb. 5, when they host Fordham. Tip time is 7 p.m.
