GAME DETAILS

Saint Louis 70, Little Rock 69

WNIT First Round

Thursday, March 17, 2016 | 7 p.m.

Chaifetz Arena | St. Louis, Missouri

THE BASICS

--Jackie Kemph scored 20 points and dished out seven assists, and Saint Louis rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat Little Rock 70-69 Thursday night in a WNIT first-round game at Chaifetz Arena.

--The Billikens (25-7) advance to the second round and will host Ball State (22-9), a 77-72 winner at Iowa, Monday at 7 p.m. Ball State defeated SLU 79-70 earlier this season in Muncie, Indiana.

--Saint Louis, playing in the postseason for the second time in program history (2003 WNIT), registered its first postseason victory.

--Little Rock, the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament runner-up, finished its season 20-13.

HOW IT HAPPENED

--After trailing 33-30 at halftime, Saint Louis scored on its first two possessions of the third quarter to take the lead.

--Little Rock went on an 11-3 run and led 44-37 with 4:15 left in the third.

--The Billikens answered with a 12-4 spurt of their own – with Kemph scoring the final eight points – to take a 49-48 lead to the fourth quarter.

--After the Trojans regained the lead on their initial fourth-quarter possession, a bucket by Jenny Vliet put Saint Louis back in front to stay, 51-50.

--With Sadie Stipanovich (seven points), Kemph (five) and Vliet (five) powering the Saint Louis offense, the Billikens built the lead to 70-63 with 2:45 remaining.

--Little Rock used two free throws and a basket by Shanity James, and a layup by Alexius Dawn to cut the SLU lead to 70-69 with 36 seconds to play.

--The Billikens failed to score on their final possession, giving Little Rock a final chance. But Sharde Collins' jumper at the buzzer was off the mark.

--There were four ties and three lead changes in the first quarter, which ended with Little Rock leading 14-10.

--The Trojans led by as many as seven points on three occasions in the second quarter before the Billikens narrowed the margin to three at intermission.

BILLIKEN NOTABLES

--The Billikens shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 48.3 percent for the game.

--Saint Louis is just the third opponent this season to score 70 or more points against Little Rock, which came into the game ranked 25th in the nation in scoring defense (55.0 ppg).

--The Bills tallied a season-high five blocked shots.

--Kemph was 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line, extending her streak of consecutive free throws made to 30.

--Vliet scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds (four offensive, tying her career high) and added two assists, two blocks and two steals.

--Stipanovich (5-of-7 FG) recorded 12 points and five rebounds.

--Maddison Gits (4-of-7 FG) had nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds (three offensive).

--Aaliyah Covington tossed in seven points.

--Denisha Womack collected five rebounds.

LITTLE ROCK LEADERS

--Shanity James, 25 points, 13 rebounds (seven offensive), four blocks, three steals; Kaitlyn Pratt, 12 points, seven rebounds (four offensive); Alexius Dawn, 12 points; Sharde Collins, 11 points; Monique Townson, five assists.