SPRINGFIELD, ILL. – Sophomore Laura Szorenyi poured in a career-high 31 points to lead the University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team to a 77-73 Great Lakes Valley Conference road win at Illinois Springfield Thursday night.
 
Szorenyi scored seven of UMSL's final 11 points, including six straight in a span of 60 seconds to give the Tritons a lead they would not relinquish with a minute to go.
 
UMSL improves to 10-10 overall, including 5-7 in the GLVC, while UIS slips to 8-12 and 2-10 in the league.

The win also marked the 100^th career victory for head coach Katie Vaughn. The 11th head coach in program history, Vaughn has recorded 71 of those victories in five seasons at UMSL.
 
Numbers of Note
-Szorenyi was 9-of-19 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, and knocked down 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
 
-Junior Jordan Fletcher added 19 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, while senior Robneisha Lee followed with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
-UMSL shot an even 41 percent from the field and owned a 38-32 rebounding advantage, including a 17-12 edge on the offensive end, while the Prairie Stars shot 46.8 percent.
 
-The teams combined for just 12 turnovers, while the Tritons committing a season-low five.
 
How it Happened
UMSL shot 64.3 percent in the opening 10 minutes to jump out to a 25-13 advantage after one quarter with Szorenyi already reaching double figures with 10 points.
 
The Prairie Stars pulled within 39-37 at the half, outscoring the Tritons, 24-14, in the second frame, which included a string of eight unanswered over a two-minute span.
 
UMSL went into the fourth quarter clinging to a 55-53 lead. The Prairie Stars later knocked in a three-pointer with 3:15 to play and followed with a pair of free throws to pull in front with their largest lead of the contest at 69-66. However, Szorenyi followed with the next four and then an offensive rebound by junior Shelby Dahl led to a pair of free throws by junior Sammie Sproul to put the Tritons back on top at 75-71 with 21 seconds to play.
 
Up Next
UMSL will play its final regular season road game at McKendree on Saturday at 1 p.m.