ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- The University of Missouri St. Louis women's basketball team battled to a 64-62 win over Lewis on Thursday evening at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill. The win improves the Tritons to 5-1, 2-0 GLVC while the Flyers are now 2-5, 1-1 GLVC.
 
Jayden Kuper and Mara Rieder traded baskets in the first quarter, scoring the first 13 points for UMSL as the two teams battled for the lead
 
Rieder tied the score at 17 all with under a minute to go in the first. Jaeda Wilson made and Mireia Casas made their free throws in the final seconds to extend the Triton lead to three points, going into the second quarter.
 
Wilson and Rieder made two early shots to extend the lead before Lewis battled back, taking the lead with just over six minutes to go in the quarter. After two quick lead changes, the Flyers started to pull away with two minutes remaining in the half.
 
A driving layup by Kuper cut the lead to two before Morgan Ramthun made both her free throws to send the Tritons into halftime trailing 33-32.
 
The third quarter was tightly contested, with Lewis extending their lead early. Kuper made a three pointer with six minutes to go in the stanza to tie the game, followed by Anna Costa Riera making her own three-point effort for UMSL to take a one-point lead after surrendering two free throws.
 
The Tritons entered the final quarter with a two point lead that Lewis tied up 30 seconds in. Once again Rieder and Kuper kept UMSL in it with a combination of free throws and two-point efforts.
 
The Tritons trailed 58-54 with 5:24 left in the contest then proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead on a three from Kuper with 1:40 remaining. The Flyers got free throws from Yahaira Bueno and a layup from Ally Cesarini to cut UMSL's lead to 63-62 with 0:14 left.
 
Lewis forced to foul and sent Ramthun to the line. She missed the first but made the second to extend the lead to 64-62. Bueno missed a jumper in the paint to tie the game and the Tritons got the rebound. Ramthun was again fouled but missed both free throws and the Flyers were unable to get a final shot off.
 
UMSL finished the game shooting 42 percent (23-for-55) from the floor including 6-of-13 (46 percent) from three and shot 71 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded Lewis 35-25 and had 10 assists. Rieder led all scorers with 27 points and added 10 rebounds while Kuper added 21 points.
 
The Flyers shot 43 percent (23-for-54) in the contest but were 2-of-10 from three but did shoot 88 percent at the foul line. Bueno led Lewis with 18 points while Jasmine Jones contributed 12 points and Gabi Hoover finished with 10 rebounds.
 
The Tritons continue their three-game road trip on Saturday traveling to Indianapolis to take on UIndy at 12 p.m. (CST) at Nicoson Hall.