EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. – Senior Jordan Fletcher scored a game-high 17 points to help lead the University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team to a 58-55 win at NCAA DI SIUE Friday night in the Tritons' first exhibition game of the season.
 
The Tritons outscored the Cougars, 12-8, in the fourth quarter and made all four free throw attempts in the final 24 seconds, including two from Fletcher that gave them a 56-55 lead that UMSL would not relinquish.
 
Numbers of Note
- Freshman Alex LaPorta posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds in her collegiate debut, while junior Arielle Jackson added 12 points, going 5-of-7 at the free throw line.
- UMSL finished the game shooting 42.2 percent, which including a 75 percent (6-for-8) outing in the third quarter, while SIUE shot 34.4 percent and was limited to just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) in the final 10 minutes.
- The Tritons overcame 25 turnovers, which led to a 21-13 points off turnovers advantage for the host Cougars.
- Senior Sammie Sproul finished with four steals and five rebounds, while senior Shawnta Johnson had a team-high three assists.
- UMSL held a 40-36 rebounding advantage.
 
How it Happened
- UMSL held a 17-13 lead after the first quarter, using a 13-2 run over a 3:48 span to go ahead 17-10 with 1:33 to play on a bucket by LaPorta.
- LaPorta then scored eight straight early in the second half, including converting a pair of three-point plays, to give UMSL its largest lead of the game at 28-17 with 5:22 to go.
- SIUE ended the half on an 11-2 run to pull within 30-28 at the half as UMSL missed its last six field goals.
- The Cougars opened the second half with a 15-4 run to take a 43-34 lead five minutes in. But UMSL closed the half with a 12-4 run to close the gap to 47-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The Tritons continued the run into the start of the fourth quarter with the first six points to go on top 52-47 with 7:47 to play on a three-point play from Fletcher.
- SIUE got within 54-53 with 1:13 to play with a bucket and took its final lead of the night at 55-54 on a pair of free throws with 35 seconds on the clock.   
 
Triton Tidbits
UMSL and SIUE were once DII foes as the Cougars were a member of the GLVC before transitioning to NCAA DI… the exhibition win over an NCAA DI program was the second under sixth-year head coach Katie Vaughn as the Tritons also defeated Saint Louis University, 59-52, to start the 2013-14 season.
 
Up Next
UMSL is at Northwestern University on Sunday in its final preseason test.