MEET THE TEAM | SCHEDULE/RESULTS | NEWS | ALMANAC

Nov. 23, 2009

THIS WEEK - The Saint Louis Billikens travel to Los Angeles this week to compete in the Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Loyola Marymount. The Billikens (1-2) face Loyola Marymount (2-2) Friday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. (CT), then take on Montana (0-3) or South Florida (2-2) the following day at either 3 p.m. or 5 p.m. (CT). SLU completes its stretch of three games in four days Monday, Nov. 30, when Arkansas State (2-3) visits Chaifetz Arena for a 7 p.m. tip.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION - All home games and some road contests, including both games in Los Angeles this weekend, are available free of charge on GameTracker at www.slubillikens.com. All Billiken home games are video streamed live on the Internet via Billiken All-Access at www.slubillikens.com. Subscriptions are available for $79.95 annually or $9.95 a month.

TICKET INFORMATION - Tickets for all women's basketball home games can be purchased at the Chaifetz Arena ticket office, by phone at (314) 977-4SLU or online at www.slubillikens.com.

LAST WEEK - Lauren Woods scored a career-high 21 points and Amanda Kemezys tallied 14 points and eight rebounds in the Billikens' 75-59 loss at Missouri State Nov. 18. Kemezys (16 points, eight rebounds) and Woods (12 points) again were the leaders in a 69-57 loss to Butler at Chaifetz Arena Nov. 21.

ABOUT THE BILLIKENS - Amanda Kemezys leads Saint Louis with 17.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg while shooting team highs of 58.1 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line. Lauren Woods averages 15.7 points, and Katie Paganelli carries an 8.0 scoring average. Janisha Gearlds leads the Bills with 4.0 assists per game.

SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT - The Lions have four starters and seven additional letterwinners back from last year's 18-12 team that tied for fourth (7-7) in the West Coast Conference. Junior guard Renahy Young and sophomore guard/forward Alex Cowling lead the LMU offense with 13.8 ppg and 12.5 ppg, respectively, while Cowling and freshman forward Camille Buckley share the team rebounding lead with a 5.3 average. The Lions are coming off a 65-40 victory at UC Santa Barbara Sunday. Head coach Julie Wilhoit is 202-206 in 15 seasons at Loyola Marymount, 323-276 in 22 seasons overall.

THE LOYOLA MARYMOUNT SERIES - This will be the first meeting between the Billikens and Lions.

SCOUTING MONTANA - The Lady Griz, who host Denver Nov. 24 prior to the Westside Thanksgiving Classic, have two starters and six additional letterwinners back from their 28-5 team that claimed the 2008-09 Big Sky Conference title with a 15-1 record. Senior guard/forward Lauren Beck is Montana's leading scorer with 13.3 ppg, with freshman guard/forward Kenzie De Boer next at 9.3 ppg. Freshman forward Katie Baker and Beck average 6.0 and 5.7 rebounds, respectively. Junior forward Sarah Ena, who missed the first two games due to injury, had 18 points and 10 rebounds in UM's 86-81 loss to Oregon Sunday. Head coach Robin Selvig is in his 32nd season, all at Montana, and has a 725-207 record.

THE MONTANA SERIES - The Lady Griz claimed a 73-56 victory in the teams' only previous meeting Dec. 29, 2001, in Missoula, Mont.

SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA - The Bulls, who evened their record Saturday with a 62-48 win against North Florida, welcome back one starter and five additional letterwinners from last season's WNIT championship team. South Florida posted a 27-10 overall record and placed eighth in the Big East Conference with an 8-8 mark. Senior center Jessica Lawson tops the Bulls' scoring and rebounding charts with 16.3 ppg and 12.8 rpg. Senior guard Janae Stokes owns a 16.0 scoring average and has 16 treys in four games, freshman guard/forward Kaneisha Saunders averages 12.3 points and senior forward Melissa Dalembert pulls down 7.3 rebounds per game. Head coach Jose Fernandez is 145-135 in 10 seasons, all at South Florida.

THE SOUTH FLORIDA SERIES - The Billikens lead the series 7-4, with all 11 meetings taking place when both teams were members of Conference USA. Saint Louis and South Florida split their first four games before the Billikens won five straight. The Bulls won the two most recent contests in 2004 and 2005.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS STATE - The Red Wolves, who host Louisiana Tech and Missouri State before taking on the Billikens, have lost two straight after opening the season 2-1. One of Arkansas State's losses was a 77-54 decision at Creighton, a future SLU opponent. Seven letterwinners, including three starters, returned from last season's 16-14 team that tied for second (10-8) in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division. Shania Hurst (14.3 ppg) and Ebonie Jefferson (14.0 ppg) are battling for the team scoring lead, while Sherina Scott (8.6 rpg), Lyndsay Schlup (6.8 rpg) and Linsay Henke (6.0 rpg) are the top rebounders for ASU, which averages 19 offensive boards per game. Head coach Brian Boyer is 170-138 in 11 seasons, all at Arkansas State.

THE ARKANSAS STATE SERIES - The Red Wolves own a 7-0 series advantage. Saint Louis and Arkansas State have not met since Dec. 5, 1989.

SHOOTING FOR A GRAND - Seniors Katie Paganelli and Amanda Kemezys are close to becoming the 14th and 15th Saint Louis women's basketball players to score 1,000 career points. Paganelli and Kemezys have 929 and 905 points, respectively. In addition, Paganelli ranks sixth on the Bills' career 3-point field goals list with 114, while Kemezys is sixth with 63 career blocks.

KEMEZYS ASSAULTS RECORD BOOK - Amanda Kemezys has an opportunity to make quite a mark on the Billikens' career statistical charts. In addition to having a chance to crack the top 10 in scoring and already ranking sixth in blocks, Kemezys needs just 29 rebounds and 29 free throws made to claim top-10 spots. She also is in position to finish among the top five in rebounding average (current career average 7.2), field-goal percentage (currently .506) and free-throw percentage (currently .751).

PAGANELLI MOVING UP - In addition to a top-10 standing in 3-pointers and a shot at making the top 10 in points, Katie Paganelli could land on several other Billiken career top-10 lists. Paganelli needs 26 steals, 41 free throws made and 57 assists to secure top-10 positions. With a career free-throw mark of .760, she has a good chance to finish her career among the top five in SLU history.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES - Amanda Kemezys was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference preseason All-Conference second team by the league's head coaches. Last season, Kemezys was selected to the All-Conference third team after averaging 12.6 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds.

Saint Louis Billikens Women's Basketball

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