Box Score
ST. LOUIS, MO--The Saint Louis Billikens used a 22-4 run over an eight minute stretch in the second half to down visiting Winthrop 62-53 as the Eagles could not overcome a poor shooting effort on Saturday afternoon at the Chaifetz Center. The game was the first ever between the two schools.
Winthrop shot just 31.3 percent for the game and had one of its poorest shooting performances from behind the arc hitting on just 3 of 16 for 18.8 pct. Saint Louis, on the other hand, had struggled all season from long distance as it was shooting just 27 percent and had made 44 total threes in 13 games, but it was the Billikens performance from behind the arc that made the difference in this game as they finished 8 of 21 on threes (38.1 pct.).
Winthrop trailed by as many as 13 points at 52-39 with seven minutes left in the game and made a valiant effort to trim the deficit to four at 56-52 with less than a minute remaining, but the Eagles could not get any closer as they saw their record fall to an even 6-6 on the season before heading to William & Mary for a Wednesday night game. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Saint Louis and improves its record to 6-8.
After trailing by a single point at halftime, Winthrop opened the second half with an 8-2 run in just over two minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 33-28 . Freshman center
Schaquilla Nunn , who claimed her fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds, scored on back-to-back layups forcing the Billikens to call a quick timeout. Whatever the Billikens were told during the timeout apparently struck a chord as SLU went on a 22-4 run after over a six minute stretch to take a 50-37 lead. Winthrop's only points during that stretch was a 3-pointer and free throw by
Dequesha McClanahan, who led the Eagles with 17 points. While SLU was make that run, Winthrop went one for 13 shooting and committed five turnovers.
The Billikens used the three ball to do most of its damage during the decisive 22-point run. SLU was trailing 36-34 when the Billikens buried four straight 3-pointers to take control of the game. Jacy Bradley gave Saint Louis the lead for good at 37-36 with a 3-pointer at the 13:47 mark. That one was followed by back-to-back treys by Courtney Webb and another by Desirae Ball.
Winthrop took a 10-9 lead in the first half on a steal and layup by McClanahan with 13:10 left in the period, but the Billikens responded with a 10-2 run to go up 19-12 with just under nine minutes on the clock with the help of two 3-pointers buried by Courtney Webb. St. Louis took its largest lead of the half at 24-16 on a layup by Denisha Womack at the 5:45 mark, but Winthrop made a run of its own to outscore SLU 9-0 in just over three minutes to take a 25-24 lead with 2:01 remaining. Wright began the rally with a jumper, McClanahan followed with a layup and Wright connected on Winthrop's only 3-pointer of the half to cut the Billiken's lead to 24-23.
Aliyah Kilpatrick then came up with a defensive steal and then gave the Eagles the lead with a layup. St. Louis reclaimed the lead at 26-25 on a jumper by Mallory Eggert with a minute left.
Winthrop's game at William & Mary is scheduled to tip at 7 p.m. Following that game, the Eagles will continue their road swing by heading to Longwood for a Big South Conference game on Jan. 5. Winthrop will then play four more road games before finally hosting a game on Jan. 17.
