The SLU Billikens celebrate pulling off another upset victory at the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. (Photo courtesy: SLU Athletics)

NCAA Women’s Basketball	1	2	3	4	Final
#7 SLU (16-17)	13	21	13	18	65
#2 VCU (26-5)	14	15	15	19	63

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

HENRICO, VA — The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team upset No. 2-seeded VCU, Friday evening, in a tense 65-63 battle in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship at the Henrico Sports & Events Center.

Behind a 22-point performance by Peyton Kennedy in which she eclipsed 1,000-career points, the Billikens shocked the Rams, outlasting them to advance to the semifinals of the championship on Saturday.

SLU and VCU were evenly matched from the opening minutes as Brooklyn Gray got the Billikens off on the right foot with a make from beyond the arc. On the defensive side of the ball, SLU disrupted the Rams, holding them to 37 percent from the floor through the opening period.

The Billikens continued to pile on the scoring through the second period. With Kennedy’s 10 leading the way, SLU put up 21 points before halftime and took a five-point lead into the break courtesy off a tough bucket in the paint from Tierra Simon.

The Rams didn’t go down easy, though, putting together a 4-0 run out of the locker room to swing the momentum in favor of the home-town team. The Billikens continued to fight off offensive attempts from the Rams through the remainder of the third quarter, as Sarah Te-Biasu, the A-10 Player of Year pulled them within one, 43-42.

Heading into the final 10 minutes, the Billikens clung to a three-point lead. The game between the seventh and second seeds came down to the final seconds, as Kennedy sank a three-pointer off a perfectly placed pass from Julia Martinez to give the Billikens the 61-60 lead with 44 seconds remaining. Martinez followed up her assist with a clutch steal, before Kyla McMakin iced the game from the charity stripe.

Along with Kennedy, McMakin (16) and Gray (12) posted double-figures for the second-straight night. Martinez and Simon led the Billikens on the glass pulling down seven rebounds apiece while the former assisted six buckets. As a defense, the Billikens forced 17 turnovers and converted them into 17 points while grabbing 10 steals as a team.

The Billikens will play No. 6-seed Rhode Island, which upset No. 3 Saint Joseph’s late Friday night in another quarterfinal. Saturday’s semifinal will tip off at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

#7 SLU 65

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
32	Kennedy, Peyton	*	35	7-10	3-6	5-5	1-2	3	1	1	2	0	3	22
00	McMakin, Kyla	*	35	4-16	1-3	7-8	0-4	4	1	0	3	0	1	16
45	Gray, Brooklyn	*	36	3-9	2-4	4-4	0-4	4	3	1	1	0	0	12
04	Calhoun, Kennedy	*	22	3-8	0-3	0-0	0-1	1	5	1	2	0	2	6
25	Shavers, Marcavia	*	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
12	Simon, Tierra		34	2-4	0-1	1-2	2-5	7	2	0	0	0	1	5
11	Martinez, Julia		27	1-7	0-1	2-2	3-4	7	1	6	2	1	3	4
02	Clegg, Camreé		6	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
22	Nicastro, Mia		1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	6-1	7	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	20-56	6-19	19-21	12-21	33	16	9	11	2	10	65

#2 VCU 63

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
00	Te-Biasu,Sarah	*	36	9-17	4-11	0-0	1-2	3	2	3	4	0	3	22
11	Asare,Mary-Anna	*	34	6-13	3-7	1-2	3-2	5	1	1	2	0	0	16
03	Lewis-Eutsey,Timaya	*	30	1-7	0-0	2-2	2-2	4	4	2	4	1	1	4
34	Parham,Mykel	*	25	0-8	0-0	3-6	4-6	10	1	0	0	0	1	3
32	Sotelo Miguez,Lucia	*	20	1-2	1-2	0-0	1-1	2	2	1	0	0	0	3
22	Ezeh,Jennifer		22	2-5	0-0	1-3	6-3	9	3	2	2	2	0	5
35	Robinson,Samantha		14	2-2	0-0	1-2	1-0	1	3	2	2	0	0	5
21	Torgut,Deniz		5	1-1	1-1	0-0	0-2	2	0	0	2	0	0	3
13	Khalil,Zoli		12	1-2	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	2	0	0	0	2
04	Hutson,Grace		2	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	23-57	9-21	8-15	19-22	41	17	13	17	3	6	63

2023-24 SLU Billikens Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location
March 9, 2024	12:30 p.m.	Neutral	#6 Rhode Island	Henrico, Va.