SLU’s Peyton Kennedy chases after Dayton’s Arianna Smith during Wednesday’s NCAA women’s basketball game at UD Arena in Dayton. (Photo courtesy: UD Athletics)
| NCAA Women’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLU (9-13, 4-5) | 16 | 24 | 28 | 10 | 87 |
| Dayton (9-12, 3-7) | 9 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 61 |
Nora Nichols
Staff Writer
DAYTON, OH — The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team earned one of its best wins of the season, and definitely its best win of the new year, when it smashed the University of Dayton, 87-61, Wednesday night in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at UD Arena.
Saint Louis’ largest win of the season came back in November, when the Billikens beat Chaminade in a game in Hawaii. On Wednesday, SLU was in Ohio, but looked perfectly at home as it stormed out to a 40-14 halftime lead.
The key to that was the way the Billikens dominated the second quarter, by outscoring the Flyers 24-5. Saint Louis took the lead midway through the first quarter, but took overwhelming control of the game when it went on a 16-0 run in the second quarter. The Billikens hit five three-pointers in that second quarter as well.
Dayton scored 21 points in the third quarter, but even then were topped by Saint Louis, which scored 28 points. From that point on, the Billikens were on cruise control on their way to their second straight A-10 road win.
SLU grad student Kyla McMakin led all scorers with 26 points, on eight-of-16 shooting, which included four three-pointers. She also had four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Billiken teammate Peyton Kennedy had 15 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high four steals. Brooklyn Gray came off the bench to score 10 points as well.
The victory lifted SLU’s season record to 9-13 and its conference mark to 4-5. Dayton fell to 9-12 on the year and 3-7 in the conference. SLU also defeated Dayton, 74-70, back on January 12 to complete a regular season sweep over the Flyers.
Saint Louis will get a couple of days off before returning to the court on Saturday, when it will be in North Carolina to play Davidson.
SLU’s next home game will be next Wednesday, when it will host VCU in an 11 a.m. game at Chaifetz Arena.
Saint Louis University 87
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | McMakin,Kyla | * | 34 | 8-16 | 4-8 | 6-6 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
| 32 | Kennedy,Peyton | * | 26 | 4-11 | 3-6 | 4-4 | 1-6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| 11 | Martinez,Julia | * | 26 | 2-8 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 5-2 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 04 | Calhoun,Kennedy | * | 22 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 25 | Shavers,Marcavia | * | 18 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 | Gray,Brooklyn | 19 | 4-6 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 02 | Clegg,Camreé | 19 | 3-7 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 12 | Simon,Tierra | 18 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 22 | Nicastro,Mia | 9 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 15 | Connor,Ashleigh | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 35 | Johns,Bri | 3 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Tillett,Isabel | 2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 31-71 | 13-31 | 12-16 | 18-20 | 38 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 87 |
Dayton 61
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Wolf, Ivy | * | 35 | 5-12 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 33 | Bohanon, Destiny | * | 30 | 2-7 | 0-3 | 4-4 | 3-1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 03 | Jones, Anyssa | * | 31 | 1-10 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 05 | Smith, Arianna | * | 20 | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 6-4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Perez, Mariah | * | 7 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Fiala, Eve | 23 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 4-6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |
| 01 | Lear, Nayo | 23 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 02 | Kozlova, Taisiya | 14 | 2-6 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 13 | Wheeler, Shannon | 10 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 00 | Lightbourne, Denika | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Cleveland, Saija | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 22-62 | 4-18 | 13-16 | 18-23 | 41 | 17 | 9 | 23 | 3 | 5 | 61 |
2023-24 SLU Billikens Women’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 12 pm | Away | Davidson | Davidson, N.C. | |
| February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) | 11 am | Home | VCU | Chaifetz Arena |  |
| February 11, 2024 (Sunday) | 11 am | Away | Rhode Island | Kingston, R.I. | |
| February 14, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Loyola-Chicago | Chaifetz Arena | |
| February 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Duquesne | Chaifetz Arena | |
| February 21, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6 pm | Away | Fordham | New York, N.Y. | |
| February 25, 2024 (Sunday) | 2 pm | Home | St. Bonaventure | Chaifetz Arena | |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 pm | Away | La Salle | Philadelphia, Penn. | |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Davidson | Chaifetz Arena | |
| March 6, 2024 (Wednesday) | TBD | Neutral | Atlantic 10 Championship | Henrico, Va. |