RICHMOND, Va. – Kyla McMakin scored a game-high 24 points and Brooke Flowers posted her 10th double-double of the season, but Richmond pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 84-74 Atlantic 10 Conference win over Saint Louis Wednesday night at Robins Center.
 
McMakin's scoring effort included a season-high nine free throws. She moved into third place on SLU's single-season list for seniors with 102. McMakin also moved into eighth place on the Bills' overall single-season points list, and third place on the single-season list for seniors, with 492. Additionally, she sank three 3-pointers to move into fifth place on Saint Louis' single-season chart for seniors with 52.

"I thought we had the open looks that we would normally hit, but we were just a little off the mark and that's what happens in an opponent's gym sometimes," McMakin said. "We could have attacked a little more, and that would have helped our efficiency."
 
Flowers tallied 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, including six offensive boards, and added a game-high-tying three steals. She moved into fifth on the Billikens' single-season list for seniors with 244 and into 17th on the program's career points list with 1,187.

"Just this one loss doesn't take away from the things we've done in the past five games (winning streak) or the entire season," Flowers said. "There's a lot of film we'll watch and a lot of things we can get better at, but we're definitely not going to be discouraged."
 
Julia Martinez grabbed 10 rebounds (four offensive) to help SLU to a 45-34 advantage on the glass. The Bills secured 22 offensive rebounds, the fifth time this season they have recorded 20 or more offensive boards. Martinez added game highs of nine assists and three steals. Mia Nicastro gathered seven rebounds (three offensive).
 
After leading 40-37 at halftime, Saint Louis trailed just 53-49 after three quarters despite shooting just 17.4 percent from the field in the third period.
 
Richmond led by nine on three occasions in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, but baskets by Peyton Kennedy on consecutive possessions made it a five-point game, 64-59, with 5:30 remaining.
 
Richmond responded with buckets on its next two chances to re-establish its nine-point cushion. A 3-pointer on the Spiders' next possession gave them their first double-digit lead, 71-61, but a Camree Clegg trey cut it to seven at the 3:49 mark.
 
However, SLU went scoreless on its next four possessions while Richmond collected the next six points to gain firm command.

"We didn't respond well to one of the things they threw at us," head coach Rebecca Tillett said. "We shot the three more than we like to shoot it, and we know not to do that. We'll have to learn on that. Road environments are difficult, we knew that coming in, and they made more plays than we did down the stretch."
 
Saint Louis jumped out to a 5-0 lead in a first quarter that featured four lead changes and three ties. The final lead swap came at the buzzer when Martinez hit a running 3-pointer to put SLU on top 18-15.
 
The second quarter saw four lead changes and four deadlocks. Richmond drilled 3-pointers on six of its first 11 possessions, but SLU ended the half on a 9-4 run to take a 40-37 edge to the locker room.
 
The Billikens host La Salle Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Graduating seniors Brooke Flowers, Julia Martinez and Sevval Gul will be honored following the game.