KANSAS CITY – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team dropped a 59-48 decision against Rockhurst on Thursday evening at Mason-Halpin Field House in Kansas City. The Tritons fall to 3-8, 1-4 GLVC while the Hawks improve to 6-7, 1-4 GLVC.

UMSL scored the first bucket of the game on a three-pointer from Morgan Ramthun but Rockhurst scored the next seven, all from Keegan Sullivan, to take a four-point lead. Jalysa Stokes hit a three to bring the Tritons back within one but the Hawks countered with an 11-2 over a stretch of 6:30 to build its largest lead of the quarter at 18-10 on a layup by Molly Hummel with 0:47 left in the stanza.

UMSL cut the deficit to five by the end of the frame as Olivia Mezan hit a three with an assist from Stokes.

The Tritons scored the first six points of the second period getting a three from Stokes and a conventional three-point play from Parker Stafford to regain the lead at 19-18. Rockhurst answered with a 9-3 run to regain the advantage but UMSL bounced right back with seven straight to take a 29-27 lead after two free throws from Alex Wolff.

That would be the Tritons final lead of the contest as Rockhurst scored five in a row to retake the lead at 32-29. UMSL scored the final points of the half as Stokes was fouled on a fastbreak attempt by Allison McFarren and would hit both free throws to make it 32-31 at the intermission.

The Hawks opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to match its largest lead of the first half just 2:31 into the frame. The Tritons fought back to within 43-41 with 2:09 left in the stanza as Shania Liburd hit a jumper in the paint off an offensive rebound.

Rockhurst scored the final four points of the frame to take a six-point lead into the final 10 minutes.

UMSL hit two of its first three shots to begin the final quarter to cut the margin to one at 47-46 after a jumper from Stokes. The Hawks were held scoreless for the first 3:32 of the frame before Sullivan got free for a layup sparking an 8-0 run.

The Tritons went cold over the final 6:30 minutes making just 1 of 12 field goal attempts and turned the ball over three times allowing Rockhurst to pull away for the victory.

UMSL was held to 32 percent shooting (17-for-54) from the field in the contest, was 4-of-15 from three but did shoot 77 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded the Hawks 37-to-30 in the contest including 15-to-6 on the offensive end. Stokes led the Tritons with 16 points in the game while Ramthun added 12.

Rockhurst shot 46 percent (21-for-46) from the floor in the contest, was 4-of-14 from three and shot 72 percent at the charity stripe. Sullivan finished with a game-high 26 points and Macie Conway added 14 points.

UMSL is back at home on Saturday taking on Maryville at 1 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.