SAINT LOUIS – Sixth-seeded Saint Louis pulled ahead in the second quarter and then held off a late Richmond rally to defeat the No. 11 Spiders 58-49 Tuesday at Chaifetz Arena in the First Round of the 2019 Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Billikens advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 3 Duquesne in Pittsburgh at the A.J. Palumbo Center at 7:00 pm ET on Friday. That game along with the other three quarterfinal matchups will be streamed live on ESPN+. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship final will all be played at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, March 8-10. For all A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship Coverage, visit Championship Central.

Down three at the end of the first quarter, SLU tied the game on a 3-pointer by Jordyn Frantz one minute into the second quarter. Kerri McMahan’s layup one minute later game Saint Louis the lead, which it extended to 29-24 at halftime. The Billiken lead got as high as 18 at the start of the fourth quarter, but a furious Richmond rally cut the lead to five with 3:22 to play on a three by Aniyah Carpenter. SLU hit its free throws down the stretch to squash the Spider comeback bid and secure the win.

McMahan and Brooke Flowers led the Billikens with 14 points each, with Flowers grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Freshman sensation Ciaja Harbison dished out a game-high eight assists.

Claire Holt had 13 point to lead Richmond, while Emma Squires grabbed a team-leading six rebounds.