ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Kyla McMakin posted 31 points and helped Saint Louis erase a 12-point second half deficit, but Green Bay pulled out a 73-70 victory over Saint Louis Friday night at Chaifetz Arena.

The Billikens moved to 1-4 on the season, while the Phoenix improved to 2-1.

"Really impressed with our team's defensive effort in the fourth quarter," head coach Rebecca Tillett said. "Focus, intensity, that was definitely our best defensive quarter. We do think we have to start that sooner and put that together longer."

Despite a 20-point effort in the first half from McMakin, SLU found itself trailing 43-36 at the half.

McMakin finished with a game-best 31 points and came one rebound shy of a double-double with nine in the contest.

"Rebounding was something that I needed to do," McMakin said. "I had not been reaching my potential in getting rebounds, and that's something that we needed as a team."

After trailing by 12 at 52-40 with 6:11 left in the third quarter, the Billikens came back to tie the contest at 65-65 with 3:06 left in regulation and then took the lead with 1:47 remaining.

The Phoenix then outscored the Billikens 8-3 the rest of the way to pull away with the win.

Brooke Flowers collected 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

"Coming into the next practice tomorrow with joy and focus, ready to attack the next team we play on Sunday, as well as learning from the mistakes we made today will go a long way," Flowers said.

The Billikens host South Dakota Sunday at 3 p.m. at Chaifetz Arena.