ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team's upset bid came up short in a 72-71 loss to Truman State on Saturday afternoon at Pershing Arena in Kirksville, Mo. The Tritons fall to 8-11, 6-7 GLVC while the Bulldogs improve to 15-6, 11-2 GLVC.
UMSL trailed by 10 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter but chipped away at the lead thanks to a 13-4 run and had a chance to take the lead with 1:35 left in the game but
Kiara Stewart hit 1-of-2 free throws and had to settle for a tie at 69.
Truman regained the lead on the next possession as Alex Fanning was fouled by Stewart and hit 1-of-2 at the charity stripe putting the Bulldogs back in front 70-79.
The Tritons had another chance to take the lead on their next possession.
Morgan Ramthun missed a contested shot and Truman came away with the rebound. UMSL got a stop on the other end as Hannah Belanger turned the ball over and
Amaya Blake came away with the steal.
The Tritons held the ball for nearly the entire shot clock as
Jalysa Stokes drove down the left side of the lane and hit a five-footer with 5.6 seconds remaining to give UMSL's its first lead of the game since midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs called a timeout to advance the ball. After the timeout, they got the ball in the hands of Belanger who drove down the right side of the lane and was fouled by Blake on a layup attempt with 2.1 seconds left. Belanger hit both free throws, her only points of the second half, to put Truman ahead by one.
The Tritons took a timeout to advance the ball. They inbounded the ball to Stokes but the pass went through her hands and UMSL was unable to get off a shot before the clock expired.
The game was evenly matched throughout with eight ties and five lead changes.
The Tritons led by as many as three in the contest while the Bulldogs largest lead was 10 in the final stanza.
UMSL shot 47 percent (31-for-66) from the field in the contest, was 5-of-14 from three but shot only 57 percent at the foul line. Ramthun and Stokes had 18 points apiece to lead the Tritons while Stewart had 15 points and nine rebounds while Blake finished with 11 points.
Truman hit 45 percent (24-for-53) of its attempts from the field in the contest including 11-of-21 from three and shot 87 percent at the foul line. Belanger led all scorers with 21 points. She was joined in double figures by Ellie Weltha with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Gracie Stugart chipped in with 11 points.
UMSL is back at home next Thursday (Feb. 2) hosting Southwest Baptist at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
