 Billikens Sprint By Tennessee State 96-59
Nov. 15, 2006
St. Louis - Using a 20-0 outburst early in the second half, the Saint Louis Billikens sprinted past Tennessee State 96-59 on Wednesday night at Bauman-Eberhardt Center. Senior guard Tyler McIlwraith poured in 25 points to lead the Billikens, who won their third straight game to open the season. The 96 points are the most the Billikens have scored since setting a school record with 105 on Dec. 20, 2002. The Billikens have scored at least 80 points in three straight games for the first time since December 1979. "I was proud of our effort and the way we responded in the second half," Billiken head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said. "I thought we could do a better job of pressuring the ball so I challenged the team. They responded well and that was the key to our big second half run. Tyler McIlwraith had a big second half, and we need that from our senior." The Lady Tigers were up 16-15 before the Billikens scored nine straight. Theresa Lisch converted two free throws, and Rachel Diener got a trey from the left corner to fall. Tyler McIlwraith scored on a driving layup, and Katie Paganelli converted an offensive rebound for a stick back and a 24-16 lead at the 9:08 mark. The Billikens were still up by six before reeling off 12 consecutive points. McIlwraith drained a long trey from the top of the key, and the Billikens hit four straight free throws. Amanda Kemezys scored two straight down low, the last bucket at the 3:36 mark for a 38-20 advantage with 3:26 left in the first half. However, the Lady Tigers out-scored the Billikens 7-1 the rest of the way to cut the gap to 39-27 at intermission.
Tennessee State closed to 41-31 two minutes into the second half, but the Billikens reeled off an 8-0 run to build a 49-31 lead at the 17:05 mark. Paganelli drained a 3-pointer, and McIlwraith finished off a traditional 3-point play. Kemezys hit a short jumper, before TSU finally scored a basket. The Billikens turned up the defensive pressure and hammered out 20 consecutive points as the Lady Tigers went nearly five minutes without a point. McIlwraith keyed the run and tallied 12 points during the outburst. She started the run and tallied five straight points for the Billikens. Lisch hit a trey just before the shot clock buzzer, and McIlwraith drained yet another short jumper. The Billikens converted four free throws before McIlwraith tacked on two more buckets. Jackie Gilbert closed the run with two free throws before Kendra Appling finally ended the drought for Tennessee State. Tyler McIlwraith led four SLU players in double figures with 25 points and added eight rebounds. Katie Paganelli tallied 19 points with eight rebounds, while Theresa Lisch registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Diener contributed 12 points. Kendra Appling led the Lady Tigers with 19 points. The Billikens return to action on Sat., Nov. 18, when they host Tennessee-Martin in a 1 p.m. tipoff at Bauman-Eberhardt Center. |
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