ST. LOUIS – Desirae Ball tallied a career-high 16 points, including 12 in the second half, and Saint Louis outscored Nebraska-Omaha 15-4 in the first five minutes of the second stanza en route to an 81-54 victory Tuesday night at Chaifetz Arena.
The 81 points and 27-point margin of victory are season highs for the Billikens, who finished the non-conference slate 6-9 with their second straight victory.
Courtney Webb scored 14 points, tying the SLU season high of four 3-pointers (4-of-9) that she established twice before. Webb also tied her season bests with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Jamesia Price netted a career-high 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and equaled her career bests of five rebounds and three steals, while Lorreal Jones contributed nine points (7-of-7 FT) and six rebounds. Mallory Eggert tossed in eight points and Jacy Bradley added seven to go with five assists.
Kim Bee grabbed seven rebounds and Morgan Johnson collected a career-high six as Saint Louis earned the rebounding advantage (47-42) for a 14th time in 15 games this season. Johnson also had a career-high four assists.
The Bills shot 43.1 percent from the floor, marking the seventh consecutive game in which they have connected on 41 percent or better. SLU also registered a season-high 12 steals as Nebraska-Omaha (9-6) committed 27 turnovers.
The Mavericks, an NCAA Division I independent who will join the Summit League next season, were led by Jamie Nash (12 points, game-high seven steals), Paige Frauendorfer (10 points, game-high 12 rebounds) and Heather Pohl (10 points, six rebounds).
Both teams began the game sluggishly. There were eight lead changes and six ties in the first half, with the final tie an 18-18 deadlock with 6:28 to play.
Webb gave SLU the lead for good with a 3-pointer just six seconds later. Neither team scored until the 3:51 mark when Ball hit a jumper, and Bee gathered an offensive rebound and scored for a 25-18 Billiken advantage with 3:28 left.
A layup by Stacia Gebers and Pohl’s 3-pointer trimmed the lead to 25-23, but buckets by Price and Bradley put the Billikens in front 29-23 at halftime.
After Nash turned a steal into a fast-break layup to begin the second half, a basket by Eggert, two Jones free throws and a fast-break layup by Janisha Gearlds gave the Bills their first double-digit lead, 35-25.
Frauendorfer momentarily slowed the SLU momentum with a basket, but the Billikens took command with a 9-0 flurry. Webb scored five of the nine points in the run that resulted in a 44-27 cushion at the 15:11 mark, and the Billikens expanded the lead to 30 before settling for the final margin.
The Bills open Atlantic 10 Conference play at home Saturday, Jan. 7, against La Salle. Tip time at Chaifetz Arena is 4 p.m.
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