SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team shook off a slow start to defeat Illinois Springfield 78-60 for its second straight victory on Saturday afternoon at the The Recreation and Athletics Center in Springfield, Ill. The Tritons improve to 6-3, 4-2 GLVC while the Prairie Stars drop to 5-4, 3-3 GLVC.
UMSL scored the first points of the game but would hit only two field goals for the remainder of the opening quarter as UIS lead by as many as five. Despite its cold shooting, the Tritons only trailed by two at the end of the frame.
UMSL opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 21-12 on a three-pointer from
Audrey Martinez-Stewart with 7:16 to go in the half. The Prairie Stars responded with a 19-7 run over the next 6:55 to take a 31-27 lead on a layup by Jessenia Lawson with 0:21 left before the intermission. The Tritons briefly cut the lead to two as Martinez-Stewart hit a pair of free throws but a jumper by Sahaara Murphy right before the half gave UIS a 33-29 lead at the break.
The two sides traded baskets over the first two minutes of the third quarter before UMSL went on a 12-0 run in a span of 4:38 to build an eight-point lead. The Prairie Stars ran off five straight of their own to pull back to within three but the Tritons never relinquished the lead scoring six of the final 11 points to take a four-point lead into the final quarter.
UMSL scored the first four points of the final stanza to regain its eight-point advantage but UIS wouldn't quit pulling to within four at 55-51 on a three-pointer from Kayla Rice with 6:49 to play. The Tritons put the game away outscoring UIS 23-9 in the final six minutes to secure the victory.
After its slow start, UMSL shot 56 percent (22-for-39) from the floor over the final three quarters to finish the game shooting 45 percent from the field. It shot 25 percent from three and was 25-for-38 at the charity stripe. The Tritons outrebounded the Stars 32-to-21, outscored them 40-to-22 in the paint, 17-to-2 in second chance points and 26-to-16 in points off turnovers.
Jalysa Stokes finished with a game-high 24 points while
Morgan Ramthun added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and Martinez-Stewart finished with 12 points.
UIS was held to 37 percent (21-for-57) shooting from the floor in the contest including 8-of-28 from three and shot 67 percent at the foul line. Lawson was the lone Prairie Star to reach double figures in scoring in the contest finishing with 13 points.
UMSL concludes its three-game road trip next Saturday traveling to Owensboro, Ky., to take on Kentucky Wesleyan at 1 p.m.
