(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 29)—The McKendree University women's basketball team kicked off its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Thursday night with a 72-55 victory Thursday night at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
 
The Bearcats took the lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back in winning its first GLVC opener since the 2013-14 season. McKendree, which has won three of its last four games, improves to 4-2 on the season and will return to St. Louis Saturday afternoon for another conference contest at Maryville University.
 
"We talked about playing better on both ends of the floor and we really picked up the intensity on the defensive end in practice this week," said McKendree head coach Kari Kerkhoff. "We challenged the our players to force the tempo and force the action. They came out and really put it together in the final three quarter tonight. This is a great way to open up our conference season."
 
As a team, McKendree shot 50.8 percent for the contest, hitting 30-of-59 field goal attempts. The Bearcats made at least half of their field goal tries in each of the first three quarters against the Tritons. McKendree also forced 19 UMSL turnovers and held a 19-6 edge in points off turnovers in the effort.
 
Sophomore guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) led the Bearcats with 21 points while junior guard Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) added 10 of her 12 points in the first half while leading McKendree with six rebounds. Junior guard Madison Hart (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) came off the bench to added nine points and four rebounds as sophomore guard Callie Pohlman (Appleton, WI/Appleton North) dished out a game-high four assists in the win.
 
Missouri-St. Louis (3-4, 0-1 GLVC) got off to a fast start in Thursday's game, shooting nearly 59 percent in the first quarter. McKendree nearly matched the pace at 53.3 percent, but the Tritons were able to surge out to a 23-16 lead after 10 minutes of action. UMSL pushed its lead to as many as eight points in the early stages in the second quarter before McKendree battled back. The Bearcats ripped off 10 consecutive points to take a 30-28 advantage with 3:07 remaining until halftime. Diekhoff had five points in the spurt, which ended on a three-pointer from Heberg.
 
The Tritons ended a four-minute dry spell with a three-pointer at the 2:47 mark to take its last lead of the night at 31-30. McKendree then closed the half by scoring the final seven points of the period to finish off a 17-3 run that sent the Bearcats into the locker room with a 37-31 lead.
 
McKendree carried its momentum into the opening moments of the third quarter by putting together a 15-2 run to stretch its lead to 52-33 with 4:26 remaining in the period. Diekhoff again provided the spark during the burst with seven points.
 
The Bearcats took a 56-42 lead into the fourth quarter and grabbed its largest lead of the contest, 72-52, on a three-pointer from freshman guard Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) with just under a minute to play. In all, 14 different Bearcat players saw action in the contest, with 10 finding the scoring column in the balanced attack.
 
Alex LaPorta led UMSL with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Arielle Jackson added 14 points and three assists for the Tritons. McKendree and UMSL will meet again on Jan. 12 at the Statham Center.