ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team returns home this weekend looking to move up in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's Point Rating System (PRS) as it hosts Illinois Springfield and Quincy at the Mark Twain Building.
The Tritons (9-12, 7-8 GLVC) and Prairie Stars meet on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and then UMSL hosts the Hawks on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Tritons have a chance to move up in the standings as both teams they face this weekend are currently ahead of them in the PRS that is used to determine the eight teams that advance to the GLVC Tournament March 7-10 at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
UMSL remains 10th in the latest installment of the ratings and trails Quincy by 0.26 points for the final spot in the tournament while UIS is fifth after last weekend with an average of 3.53 points.
The Tritons went 1-1 last week in their trip to Upper Iowa and Truman State.
Audrey Martinez-Stewart recorded a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in the 62-56 loss against the Peacocks last Thursday. UMSL bounced back on Saturday as five players reached double figures in scoring led by
Amaya Blake who scored a season-high 20 points and matched her career-high with six assists in the 80-61 win against the Bulldogs.
Jalysa Stokes continues to lead the team and conference in scoring with her 19.2 points per outing. Blake is adding 9.6 points per contest while
Morgan Ramthun,
Alex Wolff and Martinez-Stewart are contributing 8.4, 7.7 and 7.0 points per game respectively. Ramthun leads the squad with her 7.8 rebounds per game and is eighth in the league in that category. Martinez-Stewart leads the squad in assists (64) and steals (36) while
Mara Rieder has blocked a team-high 14 shots.
About Illinois Springfield – The Prairie Stars enter Thursday's contest with a record of 12-9 including 10-5 in the GLVC and are 7-2 in their last nine games. Last weekend, UIS picked up to back-to-back wins over William Jewell and Rockhurst averaging 84.5 points per outing.
Jessenia Lawson leads the Stars in scoring and rebounding with 17.5 and 7.6 rebounds per game. She is ranked fourth in the conference in scoring and 10th in rebounding. Liz Uhl is averaging 12.8 points per contest and Michaela Gibbons is contributing 9.5 points per outing. Lawson also has team-highs in assists (67) and steals (52) while Gibbons leads the team with 10 blocked shots.
Thursday's contest is the second meeting of the year between UMSL and UIS with the Tritons winning the first matchup 78-60 back on December 9.
About Quincy – The Hawks enter Thursday's game at McKendree with a record of 9-12 overall including 8-7 in league play, have won three straight and five of their last seven. Quincy extended its winning streak with home wins over Rockhurst and William Jewell last weekend.
Cymirah Williams is averaging nearly a double-double for the Hawks with her 13.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. She leads the conference in rebounding and is 17th in scoring. Janiece Dawson is adding 9.8 points per outing while Acheampomaa Danso and Mariann Blass are contributing 8.6 and 8.4 points per contest. Mikayla Huffine has dished out a team-best 58 assists, Williams leads the team with 41 steals and Danso has blocked a team-high 30 shots.
UMSL and Quincy meet earlier this season with the Tritons holding the Hawks to a season-low 44 points back on December 7.
Up Next – UMSL begins its final road trip of the regular season next weekend as it heads down to southwest Missouri to take on Drury and Southwest Baptist.
