ST. LOUIS, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team closed out its non-conference schedule and celebrated New Year's Eve with a 74-69 win over crosstown foe Lindenwood on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Tritons recorded season-highs of 16 steals and seven blocked shots, while forcing the Lions into 26 turnovers.
 
UMSL wraps up non-conference play with a 6-1 record and improves to 4-1 at home.
 
Senior Shawnta Johnson, the reigning GLVC Player of the Week, flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-best seven assists to go with two blocks.
 
Records: UMSL (6-3), Lindenwood (9-3)
 
How it Happened
The Lions took an early 10-5 lead to open the game and went ahead 15-8 with 1:44 to play in the first quarter before UMSL closed the stanza on an 8-2 run with senior Sammie Sproul knocking down two three-pointers in the final 1:14 to make it 17-16.
 
A 9-0 run by UMSL in the second quarter turned a 21-16 deficit into a 25-21 advantage with 2:47 on the clock on senior Shelby Dahl's jumper. Dahl had four points, a blocked shot and a steal during that run. The Tritons took a 32-28 lead into halftime.
 
Both teams combined for 24 first half turnovers with Lindenwood committing 13 of those and UMSL holding a 12-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Senior Jordan Fletcher scored five straight points for UMSL midway through the third quarter and gave her team a 43-32 lead, while a three-pointer from junior Arielle Jackson gave the Tritons their largest lead of the game at 46-34 with 4:26 to go. UMSL led 51-46 after three quarters.
 
Lindenwood got within three at 59-56 with four minutes remaining in the game, but UMSL responded with five straight to make it 64-56 on a pair of Fletcher free throws at the 1:41 mark. The Tritons then made 5-of-8 free throws in the final 31 seconds to help preserve the win.
 
Numbers of Note
- Sproul scored a game-high 16 points and collected four steals, while Fletcher finished with 15 points, including 13 in the second half, and added two blocks.
- Jackson recorded 13 points, while freshman Alex LaPorta filled out the stat sheet by recording eight points, 13 rebounds, five steals three assists and two blocks.
- UMSL shot 42.9 percent, while Lindenwood connected at a 39.1 percent clip and held a 47-35 rebounding advantage, including a 21-11 edge on the offensive end. The Lions outscored UMSL, 25-8, in second chance points.
- The Tritons held Lindenwood's leading scorer Kallie Bildner to a season-low 10 points. Bildner entered the game averaging 20.2 points per game.
- Lindenwood had four players foul out.
 
Up Next
UMSL returns to GLVC play on Thursday, traveling to No. 20 Southern Indiana. The Tritons are 1-2 in league games.