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SETTING THE SCENE
The UMSL women's basketball team will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Friday when it hosts Illinois Springfield in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams. The Tritons will also entertain McKendree on Sunday. UMSL's three-game skid has all been on the road, while UMSL is 3-0 in home games this season. The Tritons are coming off an 11-day holiday break with its last games.

TRITONS IN GLVC OPENERS
UMSL is 2-15 in GLVC openers and defeated Maryville, 69-35, in last year's lid-lifter at home.

LAST TIME OUT
UMSL dropped two games in Ohio to close out the non-conference schedule, Dec. 20-21. The Tritons lost at Findlay, 72-66, and at Ohio Dominican, 67-57. At Findlay, UMSL owned a 38-31 lead with just over 13 minutes to play before the Oilers used a 14-2 run to take a lead it would not relinquish, while at Ohio Dominican, the Panthers outscored the Tritons, 10-0, in the final three minutes.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Alexis Lawrence is averaging a team-best 17.5 points per game and has drained 27 three-pointers, an average of 3.38 per game, which ranks 10th in NCAA DII. Senior Tierra Snow follows with 9.7 points per game and adds 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Junior Kelly Kunkel follows with 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and has a co-team-best 14 steals with senior Kelly McGovern, who is dishing out 3.6 assists per game and also leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game.

TRITON NOTABLES
- Alexis Lawrence is 25-of-27 (.926) at the free throw line, ranking eighth in NCAA DII in percentage.
- Lawrence has made at least one three-pointer in each game and has three contests of five or more made three-pointers.
- Kelly Kunkel is coming off a 15-point, 15-rebound effort at Ohio Dominican. 10 of those rebounds were on the offensive end.
- Kelly McGovern has scored in double figures in the last three games, averaging 11.7 points per game during that stretch. She averaged just 6.2 points per game in the first five games.

REBOUND THAT BASKETBALL
UMSL leads the GLVC and ranks sixth in NCAA DII in rebounding margin at +11.8. The Tritons are averaging 42.9 rebounds per game, while allowing 31.1 by their opponents. UMSL is averaging 15.5 rebounds on the offensive end.  

TRITONS AT HOME
UMSL went 12-2 at home last season and under third-year head coach Katie Vaughn is 22-6 in the Mark Twain Building, including 2-0 this year.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Illinois Springfield has won three of its last four outings to improve to 4-4 overall. The Prairie Stars, which have 11 newcomers on this year's team, is led by senior Courtney Knuckles' 10.6 points per game.

McKendree enters a Friday contest at Maryville at 1-7 overall. The Bearcats are led by Jameeka Bouie's 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while Gabrielle Williams adds 11.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORIES
The Tritons are 6-1 all-time against Illinois-Springfield and posted a 73-68 victory in Springfield last season.

UMSL is 20-4 against McKendree and has won four straight, including a 69-63 road win last season.

TRITONS TABBED FIFTH IN GLVC WEST DIVISION POLL
UMSL was picked to finish fifth in the West Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Poll, as determined by the league's head coaches. Drury was the frontrunner for the top spot in the West Division, earning 112 points and 12 first-place votes. In addition to Panthers, four other schools earned the remaining four first-place votes. Quincy received one first-place vote and was picked to finish second with 94 points, while Maryville earned a first-place recognition and was picked to finish third with 93 points. Truman State collected two first-place votes and was picked to finish fourth with 89 points, while UMSL leaped two spots from last season's poll to fifth place and was awarded 64 points. William Jewell received 47 points to place sixth, followed by Missouri S&T in seventh place and Rockhurst in eighth place with 26 points.
 
Lewis was a unanimous selection to win the East Division, garnering 13 of 15 votes as conference policy prohibits coaches from casting a vote for their own team. The Flyers collected 118 points to take the top spot and were followed by Indianapolis. The Greyhounds been picked to finish second earning 98 points, and one first-place vote, while Southern Indiana was picked third with 97 points and also received one first-place nod. Bellarmine came in fourth with 74 points, while the Wisconsin-Parkside collected one first-place vote and was picked to finish fifth with 60 points. Saint Joseph's followed in sixth place with 53 points, while Illinois Springfield garnered 38 points for seventh place and McKendree received 30 points to round out the poll.

UP NEXT
UMSL travels to No. 2 ranked Lewis next Thursday and Wisconsin-Parkside next Saturday.