Saint Louis Women's Basketball Falls 93-64 to Iowa in WNIT Tournament

Harmonie King

The Saint Louis University women's basketball team fell 93-64 to Iowa in a first round Women's National Invitational Tournament in Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday.

Iowa City, Iowa - The Saint Louis University women's basketball team fell 93-64 to Iowa in a first round Women's National Invitational Tournament in Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday. The Hawkeyes used an early 19-2 run and cruised to the win. Iowa advances to face Marquette in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday. The postseason appearance was the first for the Billikens.

Star Jackson hit a layup to put the Billikens up 2-0, but the Hawkeyes scored eight straight points to take an 8-2 lead. Harmonie King hit a short jumper to break the Iowa run, but the Hawkeyes scored 11 unanswered points over the next two and a half minutes for a 19-4 lead. Angie Lewis stepped in front of a pass for a steal and fed Melissa Oliver for a layup as the Billikens made it 19-6. Iowa pushed the lead to 24-8 at the 12:56 mark but the Bills used a 6-2 run to get to 26-14. Lewis hit a basket and two free throws to lead the outburst. Iowa hit five straight shots, including two straight 3-pointers by Jenna Armstrong and took their biggest lead of the half at 40-21 with 6:34 to play in the first half. The Billikens used a 13-4 run to cut into the Hawkeye lead and closed to 44-34 with 1:19 left. Iowa settled for a 48-34 halftime lead. The 48 points were the most the Bills had surrendered in any half this season as the Hawkeyes shot 51.3 percent in the half.

King hit a trey to open the second half, and Jana Haywood banked in a runner in the lane as the Billikens closed to 48-39 at the 18:12 mark. But, the Hawkeyes scored seven straight points to reassume command at 55-39. Iowa eventually took its first 20-point lead of the game at 65-45 at the 11:01 mark and led by as many as 26 points.

Angie Lewis led the Billikens with 15 points, while Shanda Greer and Star Jackson both added 10. Jennie Lillis tallied a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa. Kristi Faulker added 14 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa shot 51.5 percent for the game in scoring the most points by a Billiken opponent this season. Iowa enjoyed a huge advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Billikens 57-27.

The Billikens end the season at 17-14, while Iowa improves to 17-14.