BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's basketball team roared to a 84-54 win over Southwest Baptist at the Meyer Sports Center on Saturday afternoon in Bolivar, Mo. The win Tritons improve to 12-2, 8-0 GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 5-8, 2-5 GLVC.
 
UMSL recorded season-highs in points (84), field goals made (31), free throws made (18) and field goal percentage at 50.8 percent.
 
After an initial back and forth start, Jayden Kuper ignited an 18-5, scoring two free-throws to tie the game at six. Kuper followed her free-throws up with a three-point make and then scored off a steal she created as part of a run of seven straight points. She finished the quarter with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field including the three and two free throws.
 
Mara Rieder book ended the first quarter, scoring the first four point for the Tritons and the last four points. Reider had a 10-point opening quarter as the Tritons led 22-11 heading into the second quarter.
 
UMSL continued to extend its lead in the second quarter with Addison Swandinsky and Kuper making early three-pointers. Morgan Ramthun had back-to-back layups midway through, both coming off SBU turnovers.
 
Ramthun capped the quarter hitting two free throws to finish with 11 of her career-high 23 points in the stanza to give the Tritons a 50-21 lead at the break.
 
UMSL kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard for the first two minutes of the half, preventing a basket from open play for the first three minutes. Ramthun continued to find the basket, scoring the first six points of the quarter for the Tritons.
 
Defensive rebounding by UMSL limited SBU's opportunity while Jaeda Wilson got on the scoresheet, scoring four points to close out the third quarter and give the Tritons a 70-36 lead.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter Kuper hit a three-pointer to put UMSL above the 80-point threshold for the first time this season.
 
The Tritons finished the game shooting 31-for-61 from the field including 4-of-9 from three and shot 95 percent at the foul line while outrebounding the Bearcats 39-to-24 in the contest. UMSL finished with 15 assists on 31 makes and forced 18 turnovers with nine steals.
 
Rieder led all scorers with 26 points while Ramthun added 23 points and Kuper finished with 11 points, six boards, three assists and three steals. Anna Costa Riera added five assists in the contest.
 
SBU shot 38 percent (19-for-50) from the field in the contest including 4-of-9 from three but shot 52 percent (12-for-23) at the foul line. Claudia Diez Sancho and Natalia Crooke led the Bearcats with 12 and 11 points respectively.
 
The Tritons return home for the start of a three-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 15) hosting Missouri S&T at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.