SLU’s Kyla McMakin makes a move with the ball during the Billikens’ A-10 conference game against Dayton, Friday night at Chaifetz Arena. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

NCAA Women’s Basketball	1	2	3	4	Final
Dayton (7-9, 1-4)	12	15	17	26	70
SLU (7-11, 2-3)	19	24	12	19	74

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

ST. LOUIS, MO — The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team picked up its first home win in more than a month on Friday, when it defeated Dayton, 74-70, in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Chaifetz Arena.

The Billikens led from start to finish and pushed their edge to as many as 19 points in the second quarter, before holding off a late Dayton comeback to win by four.

Each of Saint Louis’ starters scored in double figures, as the Billikens shot 53 percent from the field and forced 24 Dayton turnovers in the win.

Kyla McMakin led all scorers with 17 points. She also had five rebounds, three steals, an assist, and a block. Teammate Marcavia Shavers had 15 points and five rebounds, while Peyton Kennedy, Julia Martinez, and Kennedy Calhoun added 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively.

SLU led 43-27 at halftime, but Dayton outscored the Billikens 43-31 in the second half and got as close as two points with 15 seconds left, before actually having a chance to tie on its last possession, after SLU went ahead by three, following a free throw by McMakin.

McMakin then made the defensive play of the game, when she stole the ball from Dayton’s Ivy Wolf with five seconds left to give the ball back to the Billikens.

McMakin quickly passed the ball to Martinez, who was fouled by Wolf and sent to the free throw line.

Martinez made the first free throw to put SLU up four and cap off the win.

In that fourth quarter, the Billikens missed five straight free throws, which helped Dayton’s comeback. But on shots from the floor, SLU hit seven of the nine it took, for a blazing 77 percent, which helped keep the Billikens ahead by just enough to win the game.

Saint Louis is now 7-11 on the season and 2-3 in A-10 play. They’ll play their next game on Wednesday, January 17, when the team travels to Virginia to play George Mason.

SLU’s next home game will be January 28, when the Billikens will host Richmond.

Dayton 70

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
10	Wolf,Ivy	*	37	7-14	2-5	0-0	1-1	2	5	2	7	0	0	16
33	Bohanon,Destiny	*	39	5-10	4-7	0-0	1-1	2	2	4	1	0	2	14
05	Smith,Arianna	*	34	6-12	0-0	0-0	10-3	13	1	1	4	1	0	12
23	Perez,Mariah	*	18	2-6	0-0	0-0	1-4	5	2	1	1	1	0	4
00	Lightbourne,Denika	*	5	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	5	1	0	0
13	Wheeler,Shannon		22	4-7	0-0	1-3	2-0	2	2	2	2	0	0	9
03	Jones,Anyssa		23	2-6	0-2	4-7	0-2	2	3	0	0	0	2	8
01	Lear,Nayo		16	2-5	0-1	0-0	1-1	2	4	3	2	0	1	4
30	Rismiller,Riley		6	1-2	1-1	0-0	0-2	2	0	0	1	0	0	3
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	6-5	11	0	0	1	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	29-63	7-17	5-10	22-19	41	20	13	24	3	5	70

Saint Louis University 74

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
00	McMakin, Kyla	*	39	7-15	0-0	3-4	2-3	5	2	1	3	1	3	17
25	Shavers, Marcavia	*	27	7-10	0-0	1-2	1-4	5	4	0	0	1	1	15
32	Kennedy, Peyton	*	28	5-11	1-3	2-4	2-1	3	1	2	0	0	2	13
11	Martinez, Julia	*	32	3-4	0-1	6-7	0-0	0	3	3	6	0	3	12
04	Calhoun, Kennedy	*	30	5-7	1-2	0-2	1-1	2	2	2	1	0	1	11
45	Gray, Brooklyn		13	2-5	1-2	1-1	0-1	1	0	1	1	0	1	6
12	Simon, Tierra		22	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-4	4	2	1	1	3	0	0
02	Clegg, Camreé		9	0-3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
15	Connor, Ashleigh		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Nicastro, Mia		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	4-2	6	0	0	2	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	29-55	3-9	13-20	10-16	26	14	10	15	5	11	74

2023-24 SLU Billikens Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV
January 17, 2024 (Wednesday)	6 pm	Away	George Mason	Fairfax, VA
January 20, 2024 (Saturday)	1 pm	Away	George Washington	Washington, D.C
January 28, 2024 (Sunday)	2 pm	Home	Richmond	Chaifetz Arena
January 31, 2024 (Wednesday)	6 pm	Away	Dayton	Dayton, Ohio
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.