ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team defeated Southwest Baptist 64-47 on Thursday night on Chuck Smith Court at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 10-3 including 4-2 in the GLVC while the Bearcats are 4-8, 2-4 GLVC.
 
UMSL was flying in the first quarter, scoring 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting (60 percent) from the field in the first ten minutes.
 
Katie Hamill scored the first basket of the night for the Tritons, a layup to tie the score at two after an early basket from SBU.
 
All twelve UMSL points in the final five and a half minutes came from the bench with Emerson Weller scoring six points, Mara Rieder scoring four, and Abby Peterson adding a basket of her own.
 
In the second quarter, the Tritons continued to build their lead. Morgan Ramthun scored the first three points of the quarter for UMSL, starting with a steal that she turned into a fast break layup. She added a free throw on the next play.
 
Kate Rolfes hit a three pointer with 37 seconds to go in the quarter, extending the Triton lead to 19 points.
 
Hamill had the last point of the quarter, making her second free-throw sending the Tritons into the half with a 37-17 lead

UMSL struggled offensively in the third quarter as the Bearcats came out aggressive holding the Tritons to just 2-of-10 shooting from the floor and seven turnovers in the frame.
 
The Tritons and Bearcats started the third trading opportunities. Audrey Martinez-Stewart made one of her free-throws and then a layup after Southwest Baptist opened the third quarter scoring.
 
In the final four minutes of the third, SBU outscored UMSL 11-1 to cut the Triton lead to 12 at the end of the quarter. UMSL turned the ball over five times during the final four minutes of the quarter.
 
Rolfes sank a three-point shot to start the fourth quarter for the Tritons before making a second three-pointer a minute later.
 
With just over a minute to go, Weller made her two free-throws to give UMSL its largest lead of the night at 22 points.
 
Hamill ended the game with a double-double, scoring 13 points with 12 rebounds and two steals. Rieder had 13 points, two rebounds, and one steal. The Tritons shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field, were 4-of-15 from the three-point line and shot 60 percent (12-for-20) at the foul line. UMSL finished with a 44-29 advantage on the boards  
 
Southwest Baptist ended the night shooting 32 percent (18-for-56) from the field including 4-of-16 from the three-point arc and went 7-12 on the free-throw line. Amber Storr finished with a game-high 19 points, four rebounds, and one steal. Tori Hamilton was next with ten points, six rebounds, and three steals.
 
The Tritons return to the court on Saturday (January 11) hosting Rockhurst at 1 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building. The Hawks lost at Maryville 78-54 on Thursday evening.