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THIS WEEK IN UMSL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team returns home for the first time since mid-December for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference contests. The Tritons, still seeking their first league win of the year, hosts Bellarmine on Thursday before entertaining the GLVC's newest member McKendree on Saturday.

SIZING UP THE TRITONS
UMSL fell to 5-6 overall, including 0-3 in the GLVC last weekend with road losses at Southern Indiana (73-65) and Kentucky Wesleyan (82-64). Senior Devonna Smith paces the Tritons with 14.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 52.2 percent from the field.

THE SERIES
UMSL stands at 6-21 against Bellarmine. The two teams last met on January 13, 2011 in Louisville, Ky., with the Knights claiming a 79-74 victory. The Tritons won the last meeting in St. Louis, 75-73, during the 2009-10 season.

UMSL owns an 18-4 record against McKendree, including a 70-62 non-conference win last year in St. Louis.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Bellarmine stands at 11-2 overall and is 1-1 in the GLVC. The Knights had a nine-game losing streak snapped last Thursday in a 78-71 home loss to Quincy before bouncing back for a 65-55 win over Illinois-Springfield. Bellarmine has just one player averaging double figures, but features a balanced scoring attack that averages 72.6 points per game. Betsy Goodin is scoring 10.7 points per game and is also among the team leaders in rebounds (4.8 rpg), assists (2.4 apg) and steals (1.5 spg).

McKendree enters a Thursday road contest at Maryville with a 5-5 overall record, including an 0-2 mark in the GLVC. The Bearcats are coming off a 75-56 loss to Quincy last Saturday. Caty Ponce leads McKendree in scoring with a GLVC-best scoring average of 19.5 points per game.

REBOUND THAT BASKETBALL
UMSL boasts two of the top rebounders in the GLVC in senior Devonna Smith and junior Hazaria Washington. Smith is pulling down 9.1 boards per game - second among league players only to Maryville's Abby Duethman's 9.4 rebounds per game average, while Washington is fourth in the GLVC with 8.5 caroms per game.

Smith recorded 226 rebounds last season, the eighth best single season total.

DOUBLE VISION
Junior Hazaria Washington has three double-doubles this season - all coming in the first three games of the season, while senior Devonna Smith posted back-to-back double-doubles in wins at Lincoln (Dec. 17) and Culver-Stockton (Dec. 19).

STEPPING UP AS A SENIOR
Senior Angela Johnson is averaging 10.3 points per game this season, nearly doubling last year's average of 5.9 points per game.
 
NEARING THE TOP 10
Senior Deaven Omohundro needs four assists to enter the career top 10 for that category. She has dished out 185 assists during her four-year career.
 
ON THE OFFENSIVE
Of its 431 rebounds this season, 175 have come on the offensive end (40.6 percent), which ranks fourth in the GLVC (15.9 per game). Junior Hazaria Washington leads the league in that category, averaging 4.4 offensive rebounds per game, while senior Devonna Smith is third at 3.8 offensive boards per game.
 
BASKETBALL THIEF
Junior Kelly McGovern paces the squad with 28 steals, an average of 2.5 per game, which is second in the GLVC only to Missouri S&T's Kyesha Hall (2.8 spg). As a team, the Tritons are averaging 10.3 thefts per game.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Junior Hazaria Washington was named the GLVC Player of the Week Dec. 3 for her efforts in UMSL's wins over Missouri Baptist and Lindenwood, and became the first women's basketball player in program history to earn this honor. Washington averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game in the two victories, while shooting 40 percent from the field after playing 33.5 minutes per game.

THE VAUGHN ERA BEGINS
A new era of UMSL women's basketball is underway with first-year head coach Katie Vaughn at the helm of the program. Vaughn took over the reins of the Tritons program following three seasons at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. Last season, she directed the Blue Tigers to their most successful season in school history with a 15-13 record – tying season records for most wins in a season and most MIAA conference wins. Additionally, the Blue Tigers made their first MIAA Tournament appearance in more than 20 years. Vaughn also served five seasons at Moberly Area Community College, including three seasons (2006-09) as the program's head coach, where her teams combined for a 56-37 record.

UP NEXT
UMSL travels to Rockhurst next Thursday (Jan. 17) before visiting William Jewell on Saturday (Jan. 19) to close out the weekend.