Billikens Fall to Hampton in Overtime
Nov. 11, 2007
ST. LOUIS - Hayley Leake's layup in the waning seconds of regulation sent the game into overtime, but Hampton dominated the extra period and defeated Saint Louis 71-57 in the Billikens' season opener at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center on Sunday. Hampton, which trailed by 12 points early in the second half, took just its second lead of the game, 57-55, on two Ashlee Finley free throws with 31 seconds remaining. Following a Saint Louis timeout, Katie Paganelli rebounded her own miss and found Leake, who took Paganelli's pass and drove to the hoop to score the game-tying bucket. Unfortunately, that was the final highlight for the Bills in their season opener. Hampton (2-0) outscored Saint Louis 14-0 in the overtime session, including eight points from Artavia Burns, whose 3-pointer with 2:31 to play gave the Lady Pirates a 63-57 advantage. Hampton, which shot just 59.5 percent (25-of-42) for the game at the free-throw line, went 8-of-10 at the stripe in the final 2:17 to secure the victory. The Billikens grabbed their first double-digit lead midway through the first half. Lauren Woods hit a fast-break layup, Amanda Kemezys sank two free throws and Maggie Hennegan netted a short jumper to put SLU on top 18-8 with 10:01 left in the first half. Saint Louis went up by 12 points, 27-15, on a Paganelli trey at the 4:27 mark. The Bills registered just one more field goal and a free throw the rest of the half, however, while Hampton assembled an 11-3 streak that narrowed the SLU advantage to just 30-26 at intermission.
The Billikens answered the second-half bell with authority and a team effort. Six players scored in a 13-5 spurt that put Saint Louis back in command with a 43-31 cushion with 15:14 to play. SLU seemingly then found a lid on its basket and recorded just two more field goals the rest of regulation, while Hampton gradually chipped away. The visitors closed the gap to 47-45 on three Finley free throws, pulled even on a steal and layup by Rachel Butler and, after a Kemezys free throw, claimed its first lead of the game when Chinyere Ukoh's layup made it 49-48 Hampton at the 8:07 mark. Saint Louis scored the next six points, all free throws, and led 54-49 with 5:44 left. Hampton scored eight of the next nine points, however, knotting the score at 55 on a Burns layup with 1:10 remaining and taking the lead on Finley's free throws before Leake's game-tying basket. Paganelli led the SLU scoring effort with 14 points and Kemezys tallied 11 points. The duo tied for game-high rebounding honors with eight boards apiece, leading the Bills to a 44-37 edge on the glass. However, Saint Louis committed 29 turnovers and was just 13-of-18 at the free-throw line compared to Hampton's 25-of-42. Finley led all players with 19 points and added eight rebounds. Butler scored 15 points and collected five steals, and Burns added 10 points for Hampton, which defeated SLU for the first time in three tries. Saint Louis plays its first road game of the season on Wednesday, traveling to Akron for a 6 p.m. (CT) tipoff. |
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