ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team defeated Purdue Northwest 73-43 in its home opener on Tuesday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 3-1 while the Pride drop to 1-5.

Mara Rieder got UMSL off on the right foot scoring six of the first 10 points to give the Tritons a 10-7 lead with less than five minutes to play in the opening stanza. PNW got back-to-back baskets from Alyssa Cole and Ciara Sims to take its only lead of the game at 11-10.

UMSL got five straight points from Morgan Ramthun to retake the lead and wouldn't relinquish it. The Pride got a bucket from Riley Milausnic at the end of the quarter to make it a two-point game.

Scoring was tough to come by for over half of the second quarter as the game was tied at 22 after two free throws from Sims but the Tritons closed the half strong thanks to a 13-2 run to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.

Jayden Kuper had seven points in that run while Rieder added four more and Anna Costa Riera had two points.

Purdue Northwest scored the first four points of the third quarter to cut UMSL's lead to single digits but wouldn't get any closer as the Tritons outscored the Pride 25-7 the remainder of the quarter to take a commanding lead into the final 10 minutes.

Kuper and Rieder combined for 17 of the team's 25 points in the frame while Ramthun and Mireia Casas had three points apiece.

UMSL scored the first nine points of the final 10 minutes to extend its lead to as many as 34 at 69-35 after a three-point play from Ramthun. The Pride cut the deficit to 26 with an 8-0 spurt but wouldn't get any closer as Jaeda Wilson and Abby Peterson both scored in the final minute for the final margin.

The Tritons shot 40 percent (27-for-68) in the contest, were 3-of-18 from three and shot 89 percent (16-for-18) at the foul line. They outrebounded PNW 48-to-33, had 16 assists on 27 field goals, forced 10 steals and blocked two shots.

Rieder led all scorers with a game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds. Kuper had a career-high 18 points along with five assists and four steals and Ramthun added 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Pride were held to 30 percent shooting (16-for-54), were 1-of-16 from three and shot 77 percent at the foul line. Sims and Zoe Spoelman led Purdue Northwest with 12 and 10 points respectively.

UMSL is back at home this Saturday (Nov. 29) hosting Illinois Springfield in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both squads at 1 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.