SETTING THE SCENEThe UMSL women's basketball team hosts Maryville on Thursday night in the regular season finale with a GLVC Tournament First Round home game on the line. The Tritons are one of three teams (along with Quincy and William Jewell) tied for third place in the West Division with a 9-8 record, one game behind second place Truman State, while Bellarmine of the East Division, also sits at 9-8. Those five teams are all playing for one of four coveted home games on Sunday as the annual league postseason affair tips off.
Thursday's contest will also mark the final regular season home game for seniors
Alexis Lawrence,
Kelly McGovern and
Tierra Snow. They will be honored at the conclusion of the game against Maryville.
TRITONS AT HOMEUMSL is 8-2 at home this season and under third-year head coach
Katie Vaughn is 28-8 in the Mark Twain Building.
SIZING UP THE TRITONSUMSL is 13-12 overall, including 9-8 in the GLVC. The Tritons split their two contests last weekend, picking up a key 80-75 overtime GLVC win over Quincy on Thursday before falling to Truman State on the road, 58-53, on Saturday.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKINGSenior
Alexis Lawrence averages a team-best 14.1 points per game and has drained 83 three-pointers, while junior
Kelly Kunkel follows with 12.3 points per game and also grabs 6.7 rebounds per contest. Senior
Kelly McGovern leads the team with 4.0 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Senior
Tierra Snow is shooting 61.4 percent from the field, while redshirt freshman
Jordan Fletcher owns a team-best 31 blocks, which ties the sixth most in a single season at UMSL.
LAWRENCE FOR THREE- Senior
Alexis Lawrence averages 3.32 three-pointers per game, which leads the GLVC and is fifth in NCAA DII.
- Lawrence has 17 games with three or more three-pointers this season.
- Her 83 three-pointers this season rank second on the single season charts.
- She ranks second all-time in program history with 215 three-pointers and is second in three-pointers attempted (598) and sixth in three-point shooting percentage (.356).
MORE ON MCGOVERN- Senior
Kelly McGovern might stand at 5-7, but she ranks seventh in the GLVC in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and has been the Tritons' top rebounder in eight games this season.
- She also ranks fourth in the GLVC in assists (4.00 apg) and 10th in steals (1.72 spg).
- McGovern ranks fifth in program history with 315 career assists and is third in free throw percentage (80.3).
SHOOTING FOR ACCURACY- Senior
Tierra Snow's current career field goal shooting percentage of 56.3 is a program best.
- Snow's 61.4 percentage this season leads the GLVC and ranks second in program single season history.
- In GLVC-only games, Snow is shooting a league-best 65.9 percent, while redshirt freshman
Jordan Fletcher is second at 61.9 percent.
KUNKEL ON A TEARJunior
Kelly Kunkel has increased her scoring average from 9.6 points at the start of the GLVC schedule to her current 12.3 points per game average. She has netted double figures in seven of the last eight games and has been the Tritons' top scorer in GLVC games, averaging 13.6 points per game, which ranks 11th in league-only games. Kunkel also sits at 11th in rebounds (6.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.513) in GLVC-only games.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTSMaryville is 13-13 overall, including 7-10 in the GLVC, and like the Tritons are fighting for seeding in the conference tournament as the Saints are one of three teams with a 7-10 mark. The Saints have lost four straight and are 6-6 on the road this season. Senior guard Shelby Miller leads Maryville with 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while Alex Hillyer follows with 11.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The Saints are fourth in GLVC-only games with a scoring average of 69.6 points per game, but are 15th in scoring defense (71.9 ppg).
SERIES HISTORYUMSL is 9-7 all-time against Maryville, although the Saints recorded a 57-48 win earlier this season behind a 19-3 game-ending run. The Tritons overcame a slow start in which they trailed 14-2, to pull within 25-24 at the half and then used a 16-7 run in the second half to post a 40-32 lead with 12:30 to play. Junior
Kelly Kunkel scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but fouled out with nearly six minutes to play.
LOOKING AHEADUMSL will begin GLVC Tournament play on Sunday with the site and time to be determined following the completion of all Thursday night league games.
