ST. CHARLES, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team nearly overcame a 12-point deficit, but came up short in a 79-78 loss at Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon.
 
UMSL saw a four-game win streak snapped with the setback, falling to 4-2 overall.
 
Lindenwood posted a 57-45 lead at the 8:58 mark before a 12-2 run by the Tritons over the next 2:45 trimmed the deficit to 59-57 on senior Kelly McGovern's jumper. The Lions answered back with a short 7-2 run and later posted a 75-67 advantage on a traditional three-point play.
 
UMSL then scored six unanswered and pulled within 75-73 on senior Alexis Lawrence's sixth three-pointer of the game with 46 seconds to play. The Lions converted 3-of-4 attempts at the free throw line and made it a 78-75 game with 17 seconds on the clock before junior Hayley Alexander knotted the score at 78-78 on her three-point shot with seven seconds to play. Lindenwood then garnered the win at the free throw line on the first of two attempts by Jenny Rocha with one second remaining.
 
The host Lions owned a 37-28 rebounding advantage, including a 16-8 edge on the offensive end to help garner the win, improving to 6-2. The Tritons entered the game ranking fourth in NCAA DII in rebounding margin (+16.6).
 
Lawrence scored 25 points to lead five UMSL players in double figures, while Lindenwood was led by Kassidy Gengenbacher's game-high 30 points. Lawrence tied a career-high six three pointers, while McGovern, senior Tierra Snow and sophomore Sydney Bloch followed with 11 points each. Junior Amber Daly chipped in 10 points.
 
Lindenwood took a 39-26 lead into halftime, with Gengenbacher hitting a three-point bucket at the buzzer off an offensive rebound. The Lions owned a 24-13 rebounding advantage in the opening half, including a 10-2 edge on the offensive end. UMSL took its largest lead of the half on Lawrence's three-point bucket at the 6:08 mark to make it 27-23, but the Tritons would miss their next seven field goal attempts to end the opening stanza.

UMSL shot an even 45 percent from the field, while Lindenwood ended the game at a 48.1 percent mark, including 53.8 percent in the second half.
McGovern and Snow each pulled down five rebounds, while Bloch grabbed four and dished out four assists.

UMSL will close out the nonconference slate next weekend with a pair of games in Ohio. The Tritons are at Findlay on Saturday and at Ohio Dominican on Sunday.