ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team begins 2026 with a pair of home contests hosting Quincy and Upper Iowa this weekend at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons and Hawks will meet on Friday (Jan. 2) at 5:30 p.m. and UMSL will play the Peacocks on Sunday (Jan. 4) at 1 p.m.
The Tritons enter Friday's game with an overall record of 8-2 including 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. UMSL rallied for a 59-57 win over Central Missouri in its final home game before the holiday break.
Mara Rieder and
Jayden Kuper had 20 points apiece in the victory.
The Tritons are averaging 64.4 points per game but are yielding just 53.8 points per outing which leads the GLVC and is ranked 21st overall in Division II. They're shooting 42.9 percent (238-for-555) from the floor including 52-of-171 (30.4 percent) from beyond the arc and are shooting 81 percent at the foul line which leads the GLVC and is fourth best in Division II.
UMSL is outrebounding its opponents by 8.5 rebounds per game which is second best in the league and 25th in the nation.
Rieder leads the conference in points per game (19.9), blocked shots per game (2.1) field goals made (71) and free throw percentage at 94.9 percent. She is second with 19 total blocks and in rebounds per game (9.6). Kuper is seventh in the GLVC with 14.7 points per outing while
Morgan Ramthun is third with 8.8 rebounds per game and second with 88 total rebounds.
Anna Costa Riera leads the league with 4.6 assists per game and total assists with 46. She is also second in the conference with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64.
About Quincy – The Hawks, the defending GLVC champions, enter Friday's contest with a record of 4-6 overall including 1-2 in the GLVC and have dropped three straight. Quincy dropped its final game before the break at Truman 70-67 in a non-conference game in Kirksville.
Katey Flynn and Acheampomaa Danso lead the Hawks in scoring with 17.0 and 11.3 points per game respectively. Danso also leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per contest. Flynn has dished out a team best 27 assists while Karly Peters has recorded 19 steals.
About Upper Iowa – The Peacocks enter Friday afternoon's game at Maryville with a record of 7-4 including 3-0 in the GLVC and are a half game behind UMSL for the top spot in the league standings.
Upper Iowa had its six-game winning streak snapped with a 65-62 loss to Lake Superior State in its final game before the holiday break.
The Peacocks have three players averaging double figures in scoring led by Ellie Foster with 13.1 points per outing. Ava Privet and Kendyl Lodermeier are contributing 11.8 and 10.0 points per contest. Bryar Duwe leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game. Sydnee Nelson has handed out a team-high 40 assists and Foster has a team best 13 steals.
Up Next – The Tritons head out on the road next week traveling to Kansas City to take on Rockhurst next Thursday (Jan. 8) at 5:15 p.m. at Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse. The road trip concludes next Saturday at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo., at 1 p.m.
