KIRKSVILLE, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team came up on the short end of a 58-53 loss at Truman State on Saturday in a battle for second place in the West Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
The Bulldogs used a 14-5 run to open the second half to extend their two-point halftime advantage and then received a key defensive play from Allie Norton in the final 16 seconds to thwart an UMSL comeback.
 
The Tritons slip to 13-12 overall, including 9-8 in the GLVC, while Truman State improves to 16-9 and 10-7 in the league. The Bulldogs move into sole possession of second place in the West Division, while UMSL slips into a three-way tie with Quincy and William Jewell for third place. The Tritons will close out the regular season on Thursday night, hosting Maryville at 5:30 p.m.
 
­After Truman State took its largest lead of the game at 42-31 with 11:05 to play, the Tritons slowly chipped away and outscored their hosts, 16-8, over the next nine minutes, pulling within 50-47 with 2:39 to play. Senior Alexis Lawrence scored eight of her 11 points during that stretch, including back-to-back buckets that capped the run.
 
Senior Kelly McGovern's jumper later made it 54-51 with 25 seconds to play and after quickly fouling, Norton went to the free throw line where she missed the front end of the one-and-one. The Tritons snagged the rebound, but Norton stole the ball away and laid it in for the 56-51 advantage with 15 seconds to play. McGovern then made a pair of free throws for another three-point deficit, but Truman State sealed the victory with two of their own.
 
Lawrence scored all 11 of her points in the second half, while junior Amber Daly also recorded 11 points. Junior Kelly Kunkel finished with 10 points, all coming in the first half.
 
The Tritons shot 43.8 percent and owned a 34-22 rebounding advantage, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive end, while resulted in a 17-7 advantage in second chance points. However, UMSL turned the ball over 18 times and Truman State outscored the Tritons, 22-8, in points off turnovers. The Bulldogs, led by Norton's 19 points, shot at a 43.2 percent clip and were 17-of-21 at the free throw line, while UMSL was just 8-of-11.
 
McGovern pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out three assists, while Daly grabbed six rebounds and totaled three assists. Kunkel added five rebounds and three steals.  
 
Truman State closed the first half with a 10-2 run, scoring eight of those points at the free throw line, to own a 28-26 advantage at the break. The Tritons opened the game by scoring on their first five possessions and jumped out to an early 11-5 lead on a Daly three-pointer. However, UMSL would miss its next six field goals and coupled with five turnovers, allowed Truman State to take a 14-13 lead midway through the first half. Kunkel ended a nearly six minute drought without a field goal at the 9:45 mark to ignite a 9-2 run over the next 3:34, capped by a traditional three-point by freshman Sierra Pryor as UMSL went up 22-16. Kunkel later hit a field goal at the 4:50 mark to make it 24-18, but the Tritons' only two points the rest of the half would come by two Jordan Fletcher free throws.