ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Saint Louis registered its largest scoring output since the 2017-18 season, forced 31 turnovers, broke its single-game steals record and held SIUE to 38 points in the Billikens' 95-38 victory over the Cougars Friday night at Chaifetz Arena.
The victory was the first for head coach Rebecca Tillett at the helm of the Billikens.
"Just so, so excited for our women," Tillett said. "I thought our team had the exact mindset that we needed. We think we have a lot of good pieces to build something special together. It takes time to build cohesion. We love that they were able to find some rhythm together."
The team's 95 points were the most since a 96-73 Billiken victory over Saint Joseph's on Jan. 21, 2018.
Kyla McMakin led the way with a team-best 31 points, including five first-half 3-pointers. She finished 11-17 from the field and 4-4 from the line.
"We had such a great response," McMakin said. "It was kind of a tough start with the loss at Indiana State. We talked a lot about attitude and response to when tough things happen. As a new team, we're still trying to figure each other out, and I think this really helped our chemistry and our confidence."
McMakin connected on each of her first five shots of the game to help SLU to an early 32-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Billikens then held SIUE to two points in the second quarter, giving SLU a 53-16 advantage at the break.
"What we're most excited about from the game is getting stops," Tillett said, "and we were able to do that consistently tonight."
Julia Martinez snagged seven steals to help the Billikens to a school-record 24 steals, a mark that was set on Jan. 3, 1995, against UNC Wilmington. Kennedy Calhoun added four steals, while McMakin, Marisa Warren and Peyton Kennedy had three each.
Brooke Flowers notched her 28th career double-double, collecting 14 points and 13 rebounds.
"We've seen us score in bunches and flurries in practice," Flowers said, "but to see that applied for four whole quarters this game was special. It's a great feeling."
Calhoun tallied a career-best 14 assists. The Billikens' 28 assists were the most in a single game since Dec. 17, 2017, against Lipscomb.
Up next, the Billikens hit the road for two, beginning with Northern Iowa on Sunday at 2 p.m.
