Billikens Head to West Coast for Two Games
Dec. 2, 2008
COMING UP - Saint Louis women's basketball (2-4) travels to Berkeley, Calif., for the Collier's International Classic, hosted by California Dec. 6-7. The Billikens take on TCU (6-1), which is ranked No. 22 in the nation by the Associated Press, in their tournament opener Saturday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. (CT). Saint Louis will face either Cal (6-0), which is ranked No. 3 by the AP and in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, or Princeton (3-2) Sunday. Game time is 4 p.m. (CT) if the opponent is Princeton, 7 p.m. (CT) if the opponent is Cal. FOLLOWING THE ACTION - All home games and some road contests, including both games this weekend, will be 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. Mike Deye and Robert Moehle will handle the play-by-play and analysis. 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. RECAPPING THE MISSOURI STATE GAME - The Billikens never trailed in a 68-53 win over Missouri State at Chaifetz Arena last Saturday. Theresa Lisch led all players with 20 points and was joined in double figures by Alisha Goodwin (14 points), Amanda Kemezys (13 points) and Lauren Woods (10 points). Kemezys, making her first start of the season, collected a game-high seven rebounds. Janisha Gearlds had six of the Bills' 15 steals, part of 26 Missouri State turnovers that led to 27 SLU points.
RECAPPING THE CREIGHTON GAME - The Billikens led 31-24 at halftime, but a 19-2 flurry by Creighton in the opening minutes of the second half propelled the Bluejays to a 68-56 victory last Tuesday at Chaifetz Arena. Janisha Gearlds and Alisha Goodwin led the Bills with 12 points apiece, while Katie Paganelli grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. SCOUTING TCU - The Lady Frogs, who play at Fresno State Thursday before taking on the Billikens, have two starters and three additional letterwinners back from last year's team that was 23-12 overall and 13-3 (second place) in the Mountain West Conference. TCU lost a 96-90 overtime decision to Colorado in the 2008 WNIT quarterfinals. The Lady Frogs opened the season with an 80-68 upset of then-No. 3 Maryland and followed with four more victories before falling to Boston College. TCU improved to 6-1 last Friday with a win over Eastern Michigan. Sophomore guard Helena Sverrisdottir, the 2007-08 MWC Freshman of the Year, and junior guard TK LaFleur are tied for the team scoring lead with 16.3 ppg, while sophomore forward Rachel Rentschler checks in with 9.7 ppg and a team-best 6.0 rpg. The Lady Frogs average 77.4 points and shoot 78 percent from the free-throw line. Head coach Jeff Mittie is 202-96 in 10 seasons at TCU, 353-155 in 18 seasons overall. THE TCU SERIES - The Lady Frogs lead the series 6-0. Five of the six games were played when both schools held Conference USA membership. Saint Louis faced TCU twice before when the Lady Frogs were nationally ranked and almost pulled off an upset during the 2003-04 campaign, losing 69-66 to No. 19 TCU at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. SCOUTING PRINCETON - The Tigers return three starters and six additional letterwinners from last year's 7-23 team that tied for sixth (4-10) in the Ivy League. Sophomore guard/forward Addie Micir leads a balanced offensive attack with 12.4 ppg, while freshman center Devona Allgood tops the Tigers' rebounding chart with 7.0 rpg. Princeton, which defeated Fordham of the Atlantic 10 Conference 69-57 in the season opener, holds its opponents to 58.2 ppg and shoots 77 percent from the free-throw line. Second-year head coach Courtney Banghart carries a 10-25 Princeton and overall record. THE PRINCETON SERIES - The teams have met just once, a 58-56 Saint Louis victory during the 1987-88 season. SCOUTING CALIFORNIA - California has all five starters and four additional letterwinners back from last year's 27-7 squad that placed second (15-3) in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Golden Bears were edged 55-53 by George Washington of the Atlantic 10 in the 2008 NCAA Tournament second round. Among the returning starters are senior forward/centers Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton, a pair of honorable mention All-Americans and first-team All-Conference performers. Hampton has been slowed by an injury, but Walker leads this year's team in scoring (22.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg) while shooting a team-best 56 percent from the field. Junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson, a second-team All-Conference choice last year, contributes 13.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg, and junior guard Lauren Greif pulls down 7.0 rpg. The Golden Bears average 70.8 points while yielding just 49.3 points per contest. Head coach Joanne Boyle is 74-28 in her fourth season in Berkeley, 141-57 in her seventh season overall. THE CALIFORNIA SERIES - The Billikens and Golden Bears have never met. HEAD COACH Shimmy Gray-Miller - The sixth head coach in Saint Louis women's basketball history, Shimmy Gray-Miller has a 32-61 record in her fourth season at the helm. Gray-Miller is a 1994 University of Michigan graduate. ON TARGET - The Billikens lead the Atlantic 10 Conference and are No. 7 nationally in 3-point percentage, connecting at a 41.4-percent clip (29-of-70). That performance has helped Saint Louis to fourth in the A-10 in scoring with 68.5 points per game. Theresa Lisch is third in the league with 15 treys and is shooting 42 percent (15-of-36) from beyond the arc, helping put her atop the league and No. 16 nationally in scoring at 21.0 ppg. Lisch's 32 points at Morehead State are the most by an A-10 player, female or male, this season. SECOND CHANCES - As they were last season, the Billikens are strong on the offensive glass. Saint Louis leads the A-10 with 15.8 offensive rebounds per game and holds a 95-79 edge over its opponents in that category. PICKING THEIR POCKETS - After registering 15 steals against Missouri State, SLU has moved into a tie for third in the A-10 with 8.5 per game. Janisha Gearlds, whose six thefts against Missouri State are tied for the most by an A-10 player this season, is tied for fifth in the conference with 2.17 spg. MORE BILLS IN THE A-10 STATISTICAL RANKINGS - Janisha Gearlds is fourth in overall field-goal percentage (18-of-30, 60 percent), while Lauren Woods and Heather King are tied for eighth in offensive rebounding (2.7 orpg). CLIMBING THE CAREER LISTS - On the SLU career chart for free throws made, Theresa Lisch has moved into fifth place with 270. Lisch is seventh in career 3-point baskets with 93, while Katie Paganelli is eighth with 92. Amanda Kemezys ranks ninth with 48 blocks. LISCH HONORED BY A-10 - Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball head coaches and media representatives voted Theresa Lisch to the 2008-09 preseason All-Conference second team. Lisch was a third-team All-Conference selection last season. The Billikens were tabbed to finish 10th in the upcoming league race. CHAIFETZ ARENA - The new Chaifetz (SHAY-fetz) Arena debuts this season. The $81 million arena has a seating capacity of 10,600 and is located on the SLU campus along Laclede Ave. west of Compton Ave. Chaifetz Arena functions as a true multipurpose campus events center, hosting a myriad of SLU events including men's and women's basketball, volleyball, commencement, cultural events, conferences and conventions. The arena houses the department of athletics offices as well as Chaifetz Pavilion, a practice facility for basketball and volleyball and a competition venue for volleyball. The building is named for Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, who donated a $12 million naming gift to the University. A 1975 SLU graduate, Dr. Chaifetz is chairman and CEO of ComPsych Corp. |
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