FAYETTE, Iowa -- The University of Missouri-St Louis women's basketball team defeated Upper Iowa 72-60 at the Dorman Memorial Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa on Thursday evening. The Tritons improve to 19-3, 15-1 GLVC while the Peacocks are 13-11, 9-7 GLVC.
 
Both offenses started off sluggish with UMSL scoring the first basket of the game three minutes in on a Lexi Hanna layup. Defensive rebounding from Jayden Kuper and Morgan Ramthun helped to prevent Upper Iowa from having second chances in the opening minutes.
 
The Peacocks scored a three-pointer at the five minute mark to open their account while free-throw shooting from Ramthun and Kuper kept the Tritons in front. Two threes from Hanna in the final two minutes sent UMSL into the second quarter with a 14-13 lead.
 
The two defenses continued to make it tough to get to the rim in the second frame. Ramthun broke through two minutes in, scoring a layup off a Hanna assist. Mara Rieder found the basket on back to back possessions with feeds from Ramthun before the Peacocks scored their first basket.
 
A flurry of scoring by both teams in the final two minutes saw Upper Iowa cut the lead to five before Rieder and Ramthun scored layups to send the Tritons into the locker room leading 34-37.
 
Kuper ignited UMSL's offense in the third, scoring two free-throws before finding the basket with a layup two minutes into the quarter. Her layup started a seven-point run by the Tritons, anchored with a three.
 
Jaeda Wilson scored six consecutive points in the final two minutes to preserve UMSL's lead and give them momentum heading into the final quarter.
 
The Tritons had answers for the Peacocks in the fourth, despite a run of threes by Upper Iowa to keep the game within reach. Anna Costa Riera scored a three of her own just a minute in to give the Tritons a 13-point lead.
 
Ramthun had ten-points in the fourth quarter as UMSL outpaced Upper Iowa's attempt at a comeback. Rieder scored a turnaround jump shot in the final 14 seconds before grabbing the defensive rebound on the next possession to close out the game.
 
The Tritons shot 48 percent (30-for-62) from the field in the contest including 5-of-17 from three and 78 percent at the foul line. Ramthun had a game-high 19 points while Rieder finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Kuper and Hanna added 12 and 11 points respectively.
 
The Peacocks finished the game shooting 36 percent (22-for-62) from the floor in the game but were 9-of-28 from three and shot 70 percent at the foul line. Kandyl Lodermeier led UIU with 14 points in the contest.
 
UMSL concludes its road trip on Saturday traveling to Quincy, Ill., to take on the Hawks at 1 p.m. at Pepsi Arena.