Since their loss in Richmond to A-10 leading VCU, the Billikens have rebounded to a 4-1 record in the last two weeks to put them in the fifth spot in the conference with four games left before the tournament.
The first of the wins came in Chaifetz Arena against George Mason where Ciaja Harbison and Jordyn Frantz led the team by combining for 33 of SLU’s 60 points. The Billikens snapped Mason’s three-game winning streak and moved themselves to .500 in the conference at 4-4. Following the win, the Bills topped the A-10’s other “George” school in D.C., George Washington, 60-44.
For the sixth time in the season, the Billikens held their opponent to under 60 points. It was the second time in two games that the Bills came back from a first half deficit to pull out the win. Harbison led SLU in the second half by scoring 19 of her 21 points in the last two stanzas.
With her success in the two wins over the George Mason and Washington, Harbison received not only her eighth A-10 Rookie of the Week nod, but also a U.S. Basketball Writers Association award for national freshman of the week, the first time a SLU women’s basketball player has ever been chosen.
After two home wins, the team traveled to the Bronx for a matchup with Fordham where they fell in a close 54-51 game. SLU had a comeback brewing, led by Tasia Jeffries’ free throws after the Billikens had trailed by double-digit points, but the Rams were able to hold on to get the home win. In the effort, Brooke Flowers got her seventh double-double on the year, and her career-high eight offensive rebounds.
The Bills returned home to face La Salle where they took care of business and got the 11 point win over the bottom team in the conference. The win moved the Billikens to 11-13 and 6-5 in the A-10. Frantz had a career-tying 23 points in the victory, and three of her teammates joined her with double-digit points.
The win marked the team’s fourth consecutive win in Chaifetz Arena, and their fifth win in seven games. After just one home game, the Bills headed back east to Pittsburgh to take on initial A-10 favorite, Duquesne.
Frantz led the Billikens with her career-high 24 points in the game to get the win over the Dukes, 67-63. They went into the fourth quarter with a solid lead, but it slowly melted away as the Dukes had more success converting their shots than the visiting team did. Harbison got a career-high six steals in the game and Myia Clark was 3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc to add nine points from off the bench.
The win was the first time the Billikens had ever defeated Duquesne at their home in Pennsylvania which moved them to 7-5 in the A-10, finally getting more than one game over .500 for their conference record. The preseason favorite Dukes fell to 6-5 in the conference, putting them in sixth just behind the Billikens.
With the exception of Richmond, who they will take on next, the remainder of the games this regular season are against teams currently seeded ahead of the Bills. They will be back in action Sunday against the Spiders, but be sure to come out Feb. 27 as they take on league-leading VCU to look for a higher seed in the upcoming A-10 tournament.