ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team defeated the University of Illinois-Springfield 69-46 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. With the win, the Tritons improve to 4-1, 1-0 GLVC while UIS is now 2-4, 0-1 GLVC.

UMSL jumped out to the early lead leading by as many as four but UIS rallied to within one at 12-11 after a jumper from Kayla Rice with 3:14 left in the opening quarter. The Tritons got six straight free throws from Jaeda Wilson to build a five-point cushion.

UIS tied the score at 16 apiece with less than a minute to go but two free-throws by Lexi Hanna gave UMSL a two-point lead heading into the second frame.

After shooting 54 percent from the floor in the first quarter the Prairie Stars went cold in the second stanza shooting 25 percent from the field while the Tritons shot 47 percent to widen its lead to eight points at the break.

Morgan Ramthun hit back-to-back layups midway through the second to start widen UMSL's lead. With under three minutes to go UIS cut the lead to two but Ramthun scored four straight points on the break to maintain the lead.

In the third quarter, the Tritons opened the quarter with an 11-0 run and kept UIS off the scoreboard for six minutes. UMSL's defense held the Prairie Stars just seven points in the third, while scoring 22 points of their own from six different shooters.

UIS closed the gap in the fourth but the Tritons continued to find baskets in the paint. Jayden Kuper hit a jump shot to stop a mini run by the Prairie Stars midway through the quarter then Anna Costa Riera nailed a jumper in the paint to stop a second run with just over two minutes remaining.

UMSL finished the game shooting 43 percent (28-for-65) from the field was 4-of-14 from three and perfect at the foul line (9-for-9). It outrebounded UIS 46-to-25, had 15 assists on 28 makes and doubled up the Prairie Stars on points in the paint 44-to-22.

Kuper finished with a game-high 19 points to lead five Tritons in double figures in scoring. Ramthun added 12 points while Costa Riera, Hanna and Mara Rieder had 10 points each. Rieder finished with a double-double with a career-high 15 rebounds. Costa Riera dished out six assists.

UIS was held to 34 percent (17-for-50) shooting in the contest but was just 10-for-37 over the final three quarters. It was 6-of-12 from three and shot 60 percent at the foul line. Julia Mingus led the Prairie Stars with 12 points while Kennedy Osterman added 11 points.

The Tritons return to the court on Monday (Dec. 1) traveling to take on crosstown rival Maryville at 5:15 p.m. at Moloney Arena on the campus of Maryville University.