UMSL junior Alex LaPorta goes up for a basket during the Tritons’ GLVC women’s basketball game against crosstown rival Lindenwood, Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. (Photo courtesy: UMSL Athletics)

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lindenwood	19	12	12	13	56
UMSL	15	17	19	16	67

by Torrance Terrell
Staff Writer

ST. LOUIS, MO — Just a few days after earning the No. 17 spot in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball Top 25 national poll, the University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons picked up their 20th win of the season on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a 67-56 victory over crosstown rival Lindenwood, at the Mark Twain Building on UMSL’s campus.

Four different UMSL players scored in double figures, led by junior forward Alex LaPorta, who had 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Faye Meissner had 13 points, three assists, and four steals, and freshmen Kiara Stewart and Jalysa Stokes added 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

Lindenwood’s Julia Ruzevich scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Lady Lions, who led early in the game and maintained that edge through most of the first half.

UMSL didn’t get its first lead until LaPorta hit a jumper to make the score 32-31 with 47 seconds left before halftime.

The Tritons took control of the game in the second half. First, UMSL began the third quarter with a quick 6-0 spurt to go ahead 38-31. Then after Lindenwood cut the lead back to two, midway through the period, the Tritons responded with a 9-3 run to close the third with a 51-43 lead.

In the fourth quarter, UMSL led by as many as 12 points, before finally finishing the day with an 11-point victory.

The win lifted UMSL’s record to 20-3 overall, and 16-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, which has the Tritons in first place in the GLVC Central Division. UMSL is two games ahead of Truman State in the division standings with just two games left in the regular season.

The Tritons could clinch the division title with a win in its next game, this Thursday evening, February 24, when they will host Southern Indiana. Tipoff for that contest is slated for 5:30 p.m.

The loss dropped Lindenwood’s record to 9-14 overall and 6-10 in the conference. The Lady Lions’ next game is also on Thursday, when they will host the University of Indianapolis at Hyland Arena.

That contest will also tipoff at 5:30 p.m.

Lindenwood 56

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
22	Julia Ruzevich	*	38	7-16	1-3	8-15	1-8	9	2	3	5	2	1	23
20	Ellen McCorkle	*	29	4-5	2-3	0-0	0-5	5	5	2	1	0	0	10
10	Alana Striverson	*	36	3-8	2-5	1-2	0-6	6	2	1	2	0	0	9
04	Hennessey Handy	*	32	3-7	0-1	0-0	4-3	7	1	0	3	0	0	6
30	Paige Craft	*	23	1-1	1-1	0-0	0-2	2	3	3	3	0	0	3
00	Gracie Neff		23	1-2	0-1	1-2	0-0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3
05	Emily Benzschawel		6	1-2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
21	Mary McGrath		13	0-2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	5	2	1	1	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	20-43	6-15	10-19	5-24	29	18	12	16	3	1	56

UMSL 67

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
11	Alex LaPorta	*	36	5-15	0-1	4-4	5-6	11	2	2	0	1	1	14
23	Faye Meissner	*	39	6-16	1-1	0-3	0-0	0	3	3	2	0	4	13
24	Kiara Stewart	*	33	6-10	0-0	1-1	1-7	8	1	1	2	0	1	13
10	Mallory Ronshausen	*	32	2-8	1-3	0-0	0-2	2	0	2	0	0	1	5
20	Danielle Berry	*	25	1-1	0-0	2-2	1-1	2	5	2	1	0	1	4
04	Jalysa Stokes		26	4-5	1-1	2-2	0-3	3	0	3	0	1	0	11
22	Shania Liburd		7	3-5	0-0	1-1	0-0	0	3	1	1	0	1	7
05	McKenzie Lathrom		2	0-1	0-1	0-0	1-1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	27-61	3-7	10-13	8-20	28	15	14	6	2	9	67

UMSL Tritons Women’s Basketball Remaining Schedule

Thu., February 24 — vs. Southern Indiana — 5:30 pm

Sat., February 26 — vs. McKendree — 1 pm

March 3-6 — 2022 GLVC Tournament in Edwardsville, IL

All UMSL home basketball games will be played at the Mark Twain Building.