ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team dropped a 58-48 contest to Missouri S&T on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons fall 2-5, 1-2 GLVC while the Miners improve to 4-5, 2-1 GLVC.
UMSL hit only two of its first 10 shots and trailed 11-5 with 4:15 left in the opening quarter. The Tritons outscored S&T 6-1 over the remainder of the frame to cut the Miner lead to 12-11 at the quarter break.
Morgan Ramthun scored five points in the quarter while
Jalysa Stokes added three and
Amaya Blake had a pair.
UMSL opened the second quarter on a 16-7 run to build its largest lead of the contest at 27-19 after a pair of free throws from
Kiara Stewart with 1:47 remaining in the half. S&T cut the deficit to six at the half on a jumper from Kristen Keys.
The two sides went back-and-forth in the third quarter but the Tritons still led 35-32 after a layup from Stewart at the 3:28 mark. The Miners then went on a 5-0 run over the next 2:06 to take its first lead since early in the second quarter on a three-point play from Michaela Davis. UMSL had a chance to tie the game at the end of the frame but Ramthun made 1-of-2 free throws to give S&T a one-point lead heading into the final stanza.
The Miners extended their lead to six early in the final frame but the Tritons cut it to four at 44-40 after a jumper from
Shania Liburd with 6:04 remaining. UMSL went cold from the floor over the next five minutes as S&T went on a 10-4 run in that span. Laura Rodriquez and Keys hit back-to-back three's on ensuing possessions to stretch the lead to 51-42. UMSL made a late run to get it to six after Liburd hit a jumper in the paint in the final minute but the Miners hit seven of eight free throws to seal the victory.
The Tritons shot just 36 percent (19-for-53) in the contest, were 2-of-11 from three and shot 57 percent at the foul line. Ramthun led UMSL in scoring with 16 points while Liburd added 11 points off the bench. Ramthun also grabbed eight boards while Stewart added seven.
S&T shot slightly better at 42 percent (19-for-45) including 4-of-9 from three and shot 76 percent at the foul line. Michaela Davis had a game-high 17 points to lead the Miners. She was joined in double figures by Rodriguez and Keys with 14 and 13 points respectively. Alex Kerr pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Tritons are back in action this Tuesday (Dec. 6) as they travel to Bloomington, Ill., to take on Illinois State in an exhibition contest at 11 a.m. at Redbird Arena.
