Dayton, Ohio- The fourth-seeded Saint Louis Billikens are advancing to the 2020 Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals following a 65-52 victory over the fifth-seeded Massachusetts Minutewomen Thursday afternoon at UD Arena.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Saint Louis coach Lisa Stone said. “UMass probably was the hottest team coming into the tournament. I thought our team made the extra pass today. It came down to we really locked down on defense but at the end of the day we executed on offense and found our shooter. We’re going to flip the script and be ready for Dayton quick.”
Saint Louis was led by freshman guard Rachel Kent’s career-high 22 points, which included six made three-point shots which ties her career high.
“She was a little diamond I kept trying to hide during recruiting,” said Stone. “She is a bucket and she is unassuming. She’s a freshman that’s going to be really good and break a lot of records here."
Myriama Smith Traore added nine points and 12 rebounds. All-Conference First Team selection Ciaja Harbison netted 14 points and recorded five assists in the win. The Billikens are advancing to their fourth Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal in the last five years.
Massachusetts had four players achieve a double-figure point total led by sophomore Sam Breen who scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Hailey Leidel (11), Maeve Donnelly (11) and Vashnie Perry (10) rounded out the Minutewomen quartet.
“Tough fought game here today,” UMass coach Tory Verdi said. “All I can say is that I am extremely proud of my team and everything we accomplished this year. It wasn’t our day and I thought we struggled to score at times. When I took over the program, we wanted to change and get some respect. We’ve become relevant.”
The Billikens will face top-seeded Dayton at UD Arena in the first of two Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals. The contest will tip off at 11 am on CBS Sports Network.
In the first quarter, UMass recorded this contest’s opening run, a 10-5 advantage all of which was scored by driving layups. Stone quickly called timeout and her Billikens were able to adjust and tie the contest at 13. From there, UMass freshman center Maeve Donnelly made a free throw and was set up by Leidel for a lay-up which allowed the Minutewomen take lead after 10 minutes of play.
Saint Louis took control in the second quarter, responding with a 14-2 run after UMass made the frame’s first basket.
Though UMass regrouped, cutting its deficit to two points, sophomore center Brooke Flowers was able to make a basket and finish through contact. Though she did not make the free throw, she hustled back onto the other end of the court where she emphatically blocked a shot from All-Conference Second-Team selection Sam Breen, her first of two prior to halftime.
Donnelly keyed the beginning of UMass’s third-quarter comeback attempt cutting the Minutewomen deficit to three points on multiple occasions, but Saint Louis was able to answer and stay in front by four points at quarter’s end.
Saint Louis committed one team foul in the fourth quarter, shot 44.4% from the field and held UMass to a 30.8% shooting clip to secure the win.