Spring Break
Women's basketball on six-game losing streak
Matt Swiss
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Sports
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"We couldn't make a shot for some reason," head coach Tom Garrick said. "We're pressing. The kids are trying but they're pressing. They're missing layups and they're rushing shots."
Lack of offense was not the case in the first half, as the Rams never trailed by more than seven points and entered into the break trailing by only five.
"We're trying to get better and we're trying to get that win," Garrick said. "But every shot that they make and we miss, people get a little tight. I think that's what happened in the second half and then they just pulled away."
The Rams and Billikens battled back and forth for the first ten minutes of play and a jumper from St. Louis' junior guard Theresa Lisch gave her squad a 17-12 lead with just more than nine and a half minutes remaining. Lisch, who entered last night's game averaging 20.4 points per game, finished with only 10 on the night after going scoreless for the first 10 plus minutes.
"Other people picked up her slack," Garrick said. "She was being a facilitator more than she had to be a scorer. If we don't stop the penetration then she's finding people for easy shots."
After a fast break layup from St. Louis' freshman guard Alisha Goodwin, the Rams found themselves trailing by 7, 19-12, and used a 9-0 run capped off by two free-throws from senior guard Crystal Bellinger to grab their first lead of the game, 21-19. The Billikens answered quickly, using an 11-2 push to stretch their advantage to 30-23 over the final 5:13 of play, before a buzzer-beating turn-around jumper from junior guard Lindsay Harris cut the deficit to five, 30-25.
"Credit to St. Louis for coming in here on the road and getting the win," Garrick said. "But I don't think it had much to do with their defense. It was lost on offense."
