Rebecca Tillett has started her third season with the Saint Louis Billikens women’s basketball team 2-2, but fear not, this championship head coach is no stranger to slow starts.
Tillett and the Bills are coming off winning the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, defeating Minnesota 69-50 in First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. The 2023-24 season started 3-1.
In the 2022-23 season, Tillett cemented herself in NCAA basketball history as the second-ever coach to earn a bid to the Women’s March Madness in consecutive years with separate schools. The only coach before her was Lisa Bluder, who did so with Drake and then Iowa in 2000 and 2001. That season started 1-3.
Bills fans do not need to worry about the team’s slow start, instead, they should be excited about what these past four games, as well as the team’s two preseason games, have showcased.
Reigning WNIT MVP Peyton Kennedy has returned to SLU for her fifth and final season. Kennedy had a breakout season last year, averaging 16.9 points per game and starting every game. She improved to 19.8 points per game this season, good enough for third place on the Atlantic 10’s scoring leaderboard.
Senior guard Kennedy Calhoun has also returned in style, improving from 5.7 points per game to 10.8 on better efficiency, going from an already respectable 46.3% to 48.6%. Her playmaking also improved, rising from 3.1 assists per game to 4.5. Her assist-to-turnover ratio has also risen from 1.1 to 1.5. She’s leading the A10 in steals per game at 3.3, an improvement over last season’s 2.15. She’s tied with Richmond’s Rachel Ullstrom and Duquesne’s Megan McConnell.
Another bright spot comes from freshman Shun’teria Anumele. The 5’8” guard is averaging 12.3 points per game and has started all four games thus far this season. Anumele is second on the team in scoring and is also contributing 3.8 rebounds each game.
Tierra Simon and Brooklyn Gray round out the starting lineup. The duo combine for 16.3 points, 3 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game. Simon is ninth in the A10 for rebounds per game at 8.0, and sixth in blocks per game at 1.0.
The team is averaging 73 points per game, a slight improvement over last season’s 72.1. Following a 78-71 win against Illinois State University in their home opener, Tillett spoke about the versatility and lethality of the Billikens offense.
“That’s what we want to be, right? We want to be a team that’s hard to guard. Have five women on the floor at all times that are hard to guard,” Tillet said.