ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team overcame a slow start only to see host Maryville end the game with a 19-3 run en route to a 57-48 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over the Tritons on Monday night.
 
UMSL slips to 7-8 overall, including 3-4 in the GLVC, while the Saints improve to 10-6 and 4-3 in the league.
 
The Tritons fell behind 14-2 midway through the first half after connecting on just 1-of-11 from the field, but followed with a 16-4 run to knot the score at 18-18 at the 3:06 mark on an Alexis Lawrence three-pointer. Maryville took a 25-24 lead into the half, hitting a jumper at the buzzer for the one-point advantage.
 
The Tritons then opened the second half with a 16-7 scoring edge and pulled ahead 40-32 on a three-point ball from Lawrence with 12:30 remaining. After senior Tierra Snow's lay-in made it 45-38 with under 10 to go, the Saints followed with 11 unanswered to ignite their game-ending run, taking a 49-45 lead they would not relinquish. Senior Kelly McGovern ended the run and a five minute 25 second scoring drought for her team, cutting the deficit to 49-48 at the 4:15 mark, but the final eight points came from the Saints – all at the free throw line.
 
Junior Kelly Kunkel led the offense with 12 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, but fouled out with 5:45 to play. Snow followed with nine points and nine rebounds, while McGovern also tallied nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
UMSL shot 31.1 percent from the field, including 29 percent in the second half. The Tritons were shooting 57.1 percent through the first 10 minutes of the second half. Maryville connected at a just a 34 percent clip and were only 25.9 percent in the final 20 minutes of play, but went 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) at the free throw line, compared to UMSL's 3-of-6.
 
The Tritons owned a 45-35 rebounding advantage, including a 15-7 edge on the offensive end and held a 13-7 edge in second chance points. Redshirt freshman Jordan Fletcher added eight rebounds and seven points off the bench.
 
UMSL returns home on Thursday to host Missouri S&T at 5:30 p.m.