ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team defeated Purdue Northwest 66-56 for its third straight win at the PNW Fitness and Recreation Center on Tuesday evening in Hammond, Ind. The Tritons are now 4-1 heading into GLVC conference play while the Pride falls to 3-3 with the loss.
 
Both sides got off to a slow start and were tied at 4 less than four minutes into the contest. Alex Wolff put UMSL in front for good with her second straight basket. The lead grew to 12-5 before PNW closed the quarter scoring five of the last seven points to pull within 14-10 at the quarter break.
 
While the Tritons had 14 points in the first quarter, the real story was the defensive rebounding which helped keep the Pride off the scoreboard. UMSL had eight defensive rebounds in the first quarter, led by Wolff with three.
 
The Tritons got back-to-back baskets from Morgan Ramthun and Kate Rolfes to open the second quarter to extend its lead to eight. Purdue Northwest countered scoring seven of the next 10 points to pull within four after two free throws from Aniyah Bishop. UMSL closed the half strong scoring the final seven points with Rolfes adding four while Ramthun and Katie Hamill had two points each in that run.
 
The Tritons opened the second half scoring five of the first six points to extend its halftime lead to 15 but the Pride answered scoring six of the next nine points to cut the margin to 12 after Kaylen Evans hit 1-of-2 at the foul line.
 
UMSL followed with eight straight points in the span of two minutes to take its largest lead of the night at 44-24 on a layup by Emerson Weller. PNW wouldn't go quietly rattling off 14 straight points in the final 3:42 of the quarter to cut the Triton lead to six heading into the final frame.
 
The two sides traded baskets over the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as the Pride pulled back to within four. That would be the closest it got though as Hamill sparked the game deciding 11-2 run with back-to-back layups. She had six points in the run while Brooke Woodyard came off the bench scoring four points and collected three rebounds during that run.
 
PNW cut the margin to single digits with less than a minute to play but two free throws from Wolff with 0:37 left sealed the victory.
 
Hamill led three Tritons in double figures with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 at the foul line. She also added four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Rolfes finished with 13 points while Ramthun recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
UMSL shot 40 percent (23-of-57) from the field, was 4-for-13 from three and shot 89 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded the Pride 41-36 in the contest. The Tritons finished with a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Purdue Northwest shot 32 percent (19-for-60) from the field, including 8-of-23 from the three-point arc but shot 67 percent (10-for-15) at the foul line. Akyia Baker tied Hamill for the game-high in scoring and led the Pride. She was joined in double figures by Alyssa Cole with 10 points.
 
UMSL returns to the court on Saturday afternoon traveling to Springfield, Ill., to take on Illinois Springfield at 1 p.m. at The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC).