ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team shot just 25.9 percent on Saturday afternoon in a 53-41 loss to visiting Missouri S&T in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
The Lady Miners were just slightly better at 30.6 percent from the floor, but owned a 49-27 rebounding advantage, including a 15-8 edge on the offensive end.
UMSL slips to 3-5 overall, including 0-2 in the GLVC, while Missouri &T evens its records at 3-3 and 1-1 in the league.
The Lady Miners outscored UMSL, 38-22, in the second half with 10 of those points coming on the fastbreak, to erase a 19-15 halftime deficit.
A jumper in the paint by sophomore
Jordan Fletcher with 5:55 to play in the third quarter gave UMSL a 26-20 lead, but the Tritons would miss 10 straight shot attempts and didn't score again until a three-pointer from senior
Kelly Kunkel at the 6:47 mark in the fourth quarter that pulled UMSL within 35-29. However, the Lady Miners followed with a 9-1 run to push their advantage to 44-30 with less than five minutes to play. A three-pointer from junior
Shea O'Brien made it a single-digit deficit with 2:20 to go, but the Tritons would get no closer.
O'Brien finished with 11 point and six rebounds, while Kunkel scored 12 points and finished with two assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
UMSL took a 19-15 lead into halftime after holding a 7-6 advantage after the first quarter, which saw the teams combine to shoot 5-of-28 from the field. The Tritons scored eight unanswered points from the end of the first start to the start of the second quarter to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 12-6 advantage with 8:18 to play in the half. Junior
Jordan Boyce began the run with a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter, while junior
Sydney Bloch ended the run with a three-pointer of her own.
Missouri S&T was led by Jamy Douvier off the bench with 14 points and 15 rebounds. The Lady Miners were just 2-of-12 from three-point range but went 21-of-24 at the free throw line, while UMSL was just 6-of-11.
The Tritons are idle until next Saturday when they wrap up their current three-game homestand, hosting Maryville at 1 p.m.
