ST. LOUIS – Sadie Stipanovich scored a game-high 24 points and Jenny Vliet drilled a Saint Louis season-high five 3-point field goals, but a strong second half lifted Dayton to a 95-68 Atlantic 10 Conference win over the Billikens Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens (14-15, 7-9 A-10) finished the regular season tied with VCU for eighth place in the conference. SLU and VCU will meet in an A-10 Championship second-round game Thursday, March 5, at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. Game time is 10:30 a.m. (CT). The winner meets top-seeded George Washington Friday at 10 a.m. (CT).
Stipanovich, who scored 20 or more points for a sixth time this season, was 14-of-18 from the free throw line. The 18 attempts set a school record, while the 14 makes tied the school mark. Both totals rank second in the A-10 this season. Stipanovich also collected a team-high six rebounds.
Vliet scored all 15 of her points on a 5-of-6 performance from beyond the arc. Jamesia Price and Jackie Kemph tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively, and registered five assists apiece. Price added three steals.
Dayton (23-5, 14-2), the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, placed six players in double figures. Ally Malott and Kelley Austria scored 17 points apiece; Andrea Hoover tossed in 14; Saicha Grant-Allen netted 13; Jenna Burdette scored 12; and Amber Deane contributed 10.
Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, while Hoover and Grant-Allen hauled in eight apiece. Hoover had game highs of six assists and five steals, and Austria had four thefts.
Dayton hit eight of its first nine shots, including four 3-pointers, and led by 10 points twice in the early going. An 11-2 run, featuring six points from Stipanovich and five from Price, pulled Saint Louis to within a point at 25-24.
Dayton scored the next seven points, but another 11-2 spurt put the Billikens in front 35-34 with 4:20 left. Kemph scored five of the 11 points, including a 3-pointer, and Denisha Womack also connected from beyond the arc.
The Billikens led 40-39 with just under a minute left in the half, but a pair of free throws by Grant-Allen gave the Flyers a 41-40 edge at intermission.
Dayton began to gradually pull away in the second half, although Saint Louis trailed just 63-54 after Stipanovich sank two from the stripe at the 8:25 mark. However, a 15-4 spurt gave the Flyers a 20-point lead and firm command of the game.
