ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Kyla McMakin recorded her fourth 20-point game this season and Julia Martinez registered a career-best 20 points, leading Saint Louis to a 75-65 victory over Illinois State Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.

The Billikens moved to 3-8 on the year, while Illinois State dipped to 5-1.

"Really good day for our women," head coach Rebecca Tillett said. "Really good day.

"Really excited about the balance and the efficiency, something we are actively pursuing as a group," Tillett said.

Martinez drilled two 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the contest on her way to a career-high 20 points.

"Anytime you see your first two or three shots go in, your confidence goes up," Martinez said. "It's a credit to my whole team. Everyone was telling me 'shoot those shots.'"

Martinez also added nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

"I love defense," Martinez said. "I think I took a big step up this year, and I think with the new staff has helped me get up to that level."

Flowers, the NCAA leader in blocked shots, swatted seven Redbird attempts Saturday night, while also adding 14 points and six rebounds.

"We're resilient, we believe in one another, and seizing that next opportunity to play and get better and learn from the mistakes that we've made," Flowers said.

SLU and the Redbirds were all square at the end of the first quarter, 20-20. Martinez and McMakin led the way for the Billikens in the frame, scoring 10 and eight points, respectively.

The Billikens held a four-point advantage at the half, 40-36, after shooting 47 percent from the field, including 6-12 from behind the arc. McMakin led all scorers with 15 points at the break, while Martinez had 12 points and seven rebounds.

After SLU went up by nine at 45-36 with 8:36 left in the third quarter, Illinois State outscored the Billikens 19-10 the rest of the frame to knot the game at 55-55.

The Billikens went 10-10 from the charity stripe on their way to a dominating four quarter to close out the victory, outscoring Illinois State 20-10 in the frame.

SLU connected on all 18 of its free throw attempts, marking its highest percentage in program history with at least 15 attempts.

McMakin finished with a game-best 22 points, her fourth 20-point game of the season.

Peyton Kennedy added 10 points, including 6-6 from the line, and three rebounds.

The Billikens visit Ball State Monday night for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip in Muncie, Ind.