ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the field en route to a 67-61 victory over visiting Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday night in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
 
Senior Kelly Kunkel scored a game-high 18 points to pace the offense, while junior Robneisha Lee and redshirt sophomore Jordan Fletcher followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
 
UMSL improves to 7-7 overall, including 2-4 in the GLVC, while the Rangers, which entered the game having won four of their last five, slip to 9-5 and 3-3 in the league.
 
The Tritons took a 40-35 lead into halftime after outscoring the Rangers, 23-16, in the second quarter behind 58.8 percent shooting. Lee scored nine of her points in that frame, including a three-pointer at the buzzer to give UMSL the five-point halftime lead, and recorded all 13 of her points in the first half.
 
UMSL scored six straight to open the second half and took its largest lead of the game at 46-35 at the 8:45 mark on a Fletcher bucket. The Tritons then missed their next four field goals and turned the ball over on three other possessions, allowing UW-Parkside to creep back in with eight unanswered points and trim the lead to 46-43. Fletcher ended the drought with back-to-back buckets and the Tritons would go in to the fourth quarter with a 56-48 lead.
 
The Rangers pulled within three again twice in the final frame, including 64-61 with 33 seconds to play, but Kunkel was 3-of-4 at the free throw line to finish the game and help seal with win.
 
Both teams pulled down 35 rebounds, but Wisconsin-Parkside, which shot 36.7 percent, held a 13-8 edge on the offensive end. Both teams also turned the b all over 16 times.
 
UMSL returns to the court on Saturday, hosting No. 8 Lewis at 1 p.m.