ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St Louis women's basketball team won its season opener 78-51 against Roosevelt on Friday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. It is the Tritons (1-0) first season opening win since 2017, when they beat Davenport 75-67.
UMSL came out of the gates hot in the first quarter knocking down 9-of-15 shots and led by as many as 11 points in the stanza before the Lakers (0-1) cut into the lead scoring the last four points to make it a nine-point contest at the quarter break.
The Tritons scored the first basket of the second quarter to extend its lead back to double digits but Roosevelt countered with a 9-2 run to draw within four after a jumper from Marie Outlay at the 6:25 mark of the frame.
UMSL answered with a 15-4 run of their own to build its largest lead of the half at 42-27 after two free throws from
Kate Rolfes. Rolfes had seven points in that run while
Alex Wolff and
Katie Hamill added three points apiece.
The Lakers closed the quarter strong scoring five of the last seven points to trim UMSL's lead to 12 at the half.
Roosevelt opened the third quarter with a three from Maria Outlay to get within single digits but it didn't last long as Rolfes and Hamill hit back-to-back three's to extend the lead to 15. The Lakers scored seven straight points to pull within single digits but that would be the last time as UMSL closed the frame on a 10-0 run to take an 18-point lead into the final 10 minutes.
The Tritons stretched their lead to as many as 29 points with 1:42 remaining in the contest after two free throws from
Mara Rieder.
UMSL withstood that four-minute scoring drought in the third quarter through the strength of its rebounding, preventing Roosevelt from being able to cut the lead to anything smaller than eight points.
With the Lakers in foul trouble, the Tritons took advantage of several offensive rebounds to add to their lead. UMSL had 13 points off second chance opportunities, with four of those coming in the fourth quarter.
The Tritons finished the game shooting 52 percent (28-for-54) from the field including 7-of-15 from three and shot 68 percent at the foul line. Hamill led four UMSL players in double figures with 18 points while Rieder and Rolfes had 15 each and Wolff dropped in 11.
Emerson Weller pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
Roosevelt finished the afternoon with a 33.3% field goal percentage and 11.1% from the three-point line. The team did shoot 81.8% from the free throw line on the night. Outlay led all scorers with 22 points and led the Lakers with seven rebounds.
The Tritons return to action on Saturday afternoon hosting Parkside at 1 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building. The Rangers defeated Maryville 75-60 in the season opener for both teams on Friday at Maryville.
