ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak with a 62-59 win at Purdue Northwest on Monday afternoon in Hammond, Ind. The Tritons improve to 3-6 while the Pride drop to 4-9.
PNW jumped out to an early four-point lead but UMSL countered with a 7-1 run to take a 9-7 lead after a layup by
Shania Liburd with 2:38 left in the opening stanza. The Pride tied the game a minute later after a jumper from Mercedes Simmons and that's the way the quarter ended with the game tied at nine.
The second frame saw six lead changes. The Tritons opened the quarter with a 4-1 run to grab a three-point lead but PNW answered with four straight to retake the lead at 14-13 after a jumper from Dash Shaw near the midway point of the period.
Morgan Ramthun gave UMSL the lead back scoring in transition, but it was short lived as Kylie Schmidt answered on the other end to put the Pride back in front with 3:42 remaining in the half. UMSL countered with five straight points to take its largest lead of the half at 20-16 on a three-point play from
Kiara Stewart.
The Tritons still led by four in the final minute of the frame, but Purdue Northwest scored the final five points to take a 25-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
UMSL opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 32-25 on a jumper from Liburd with 6:34 left in the stanza. The two sides traded baskets but the Tritons still led by five with 4:31 left in the period after a jumper from Liburd. The Pride closed the quarter on an 8-3 run to tie the game at 39 heading into the final 10 minutes.
UMSL scored the first four points of the final session to regain the lead but PNW countered with a 14-4 run over the next 2:44 to take its largest lead of the game at 53-47. Tadriana Heard scored nine of those points including five in one possession. Heard hit a three from the left wing and then hit two free throws after a technical foul was called on head coach
Katie Vaughn.
The Tritons tied the game 1:17 later as
Jalysa Stokes and
Amaya Blake hit back-to-back three's. The Pride regained the lead at 54-53 after Snow hit 1-of-2 at the foul line. UMSL retook the lead two possessions later as Ramthun converted a three-point play to make it 56-54.
PNW tied the game again on its next possession as Schmidt scored in the paint. Ramthun gave the Tritons a 59-56 lead on their next possession converting another old fashioned three-point play with 2:07 left in the contest. It would be a lead that UMSL wouldn't relinquish.
The Pride got to within one as Kennedy Jackson scored on a drive to the basket with 1:40 remaining. Stokes missed a jumper that would've extended the lead back to three giving Purdue Northwest a chance to regain the lead in the final minute. Heard missed a layup and Ramthun came away with the rebound with less than 30 seconds to go.
The Pride were forced to foul to extend the game and fouled Stokes who hit 1-of-2 to give the Tritons a 60-58 lead. Antreese Shelton was fouled on a game-tying layup attempt by Stewart with 0:11 to play but only hit one of the two free throws.
The Tritons used their final timeout to advance the ball into the front court and Blake was fouled on the inbounds pass for two free throws. She made both to extend the lead to three at 62-59.
Purdue Northwest called a timeout to advance the ball and setup a game-tying three. Heard had an open look at a three from the right wing but her shot was too strong. Jackson got the offensive rebound but the Pride were unable to get another three off before the final buzzer sounded.
UMSL shot 44 percent (24-for-54) from the field in the contest including 4-of-7 from downtown and shot 91 percent (10-for-11) at the foul line. Stokes was tied for the game-high with 16 points while Ramthun added 12. Stewart and Blake finished with nine points apiece. Stewart had a game-high eight rebounds.
Purdue Northwest shot 42 percent (22-for-52) from the floor but was 2-of-12 from three and shot 72 percent at the foul line. Snow tied Stokes for the game-high in points while Schmidt and Simmons added 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Tritons will take a break for the Christmas holiday and then return to the court on Dec. 31 when they host Parkside at 12 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
