ST. LOUIS – Sadie Stipanovich registered her fifth double-double of the season, including a career-high 35 points, and a Saint Louis women's basketball record crowd of 7,184 saw the Billikens dominate George Mason 82-59 Saturday night in Atlantic 10 Conference action at Chaifetz Arena.
In addition to shattering the previous school record of 3,920 – established earlier this season against Fordham – Saturday night's gathering established an A-10 women's basketball season high.
The Billikens (14-13, 7-7 A-10) recorded their season scoring high and equaled the A-10 season high of 63 rebounds, out-rebounding George Mason (13-14, 5-9) 63-28. The 63 rebounds are four shy of tying the school record.
Stipanovich was 13-of-15 from the field – tying for the second-most field goals in the A-10 this season – and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. The reigning A-10 Player of the Week grabbed 10 rebounds, including a game-high five on the offensive glass, in posting her second consecutive double-double.
The sophomore center's 35 points tied George Mason's Taylor Brown for the A-10 season high. Stipanovich was two points from tying Theresa Lisch's school record of 37 points, set at La Salle during the 2008-09 season.
The Billikens had two players with a double-double for a second consecutive game. Jenny Vliet, who was named A-10 Rookie of the Week Monday, tallied 13 points and a career- and game-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Vliet was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Jackie Kemph and Jamesia Price netted 14 and 13 points, respectively, and dished out six assists apiece. The backcourt duo had just one turnover between them. Denisha Womack collected eight rebounds, while Olivia Jakubicek pulled down seven.
Brown, the A-10's leading scorer at 22.1 points per game coming in, tossed in 21 points. However, she scored only three in the first half as Saint Louis pulled out to a 33-13 lead at intermission. George Mason's 13 first-half points are the fewest allowed by the Billikens in any half this season.
In the second half, the Saint Louis lead never dipped below 20 and grew to 32 points, 82-50, with 3:22 left.
The Billikens limited the Patriots to 27.3 percent from the field, the lowest shooting mark by a SLU opponent this season. George Mason, which came in leading the A-10 in 3-point field goals (6.7/game), was just 4-of-23 from beyond the arc.
The Billikens, whose seven conference victories tie last year's team for the most A-10 wins in program history, are in seventh place in the league with two regular-season games remaining. SLU travels to Rhode Island Thursday, Feb. 26, for a 6 p.m. (CT) tip before hosting second-place Dayton next Sunday at 2 p.m.
