ST. LOUIS, MO. – It took double overtime, but the University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team prevailed with a 61-60 win over Truman State in its final nonconference game of the season.
 
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Fletcher hit the first of two free throws with 1:37 to play in the second overtime for the lead and the final score as the Tritons outscored the Bulldogs, 7-6, in the final extra five minutes.
 
UMSL improves to 6-5 overall, closing out its nonconference schedule with a 5-3 mark. The Tritons return to GLVC action next weekend with a pair of road games, beginning Thursday at Saint Joseph's. UMSL is currently 1-2 in conference play. Truman State, which will host UMSL Jan. 21 in league play, slips to 8-5 overall.
 
Junior Shea O'Brien led the Tritons with 14 points and six rebounds off the bench, scoring four of those points in the second overtime. Senior Kelly Kunkel followed with 11 points and six rebounds, while freshman Julie Jurasits added nine points. Senior Amber Daly pulled down eight rebounds and collected three steals.
 
UMSL took its largest lead of the game at 37-25 on a pair of Daly free throws with 3:06 to play in the third quarter before Truman closed out the frame with an 13-4 run, pulling within 41-38. The Bulldogs knotted the score at 47-47 midway through the fourth quarter and then again at 50-50 with 2:16 to score. Neither team was able to score again, forcing the first overtime.
 
Fletcher's jumper in the paint with 52 seconds to play in the first overtime gave the Tritons a 54-52 lead, but the game would go to a second overtime as Truman knocked in a jumper in the paint off an inbounds play under the basket for the tie.
 
The Tritons shot 37.3 percent in the win despite going 13-of-26 at the free throw line. Truman State shot 29.4 percent, but owned a 53-42 rebounding advantage, including a 17-8 edge on the offensive end, outscoring UMSL, 12-4, in second chance points.
 
UMSL held a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter after ending the opening 10 minutes on an 11-3 run. O'Brien had six of those points, finishing the first quarter 4-of-4 from the field. The Tritons owned a 28-21 halftime lead, limiting Truman to 23.8 percent shooting with just five field goals. The Bulldogs stayed in the contest with a 10-of-15 showing at the free throw line in the opening stanza and finished the game 16-of-23 at the line.