(ST. LOUIS, Mo., Feb. 1) – The McKendree University women's basketball team fell to Missouri-St. Louis 77-53 Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo. The Bearcats are now 10-10 overall on the season and 3-9 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
The first quarter began with back-and-forth play between the Bearcats and the Tritons going basket-for-basket until UMSL went on a seven point unanswered run to take an 18-11 lead over McKendree with 1:11 remaining in the quarter. The Bearcats answered back with a five point run of their own to cut the Tritons lead to four at the end of the first quarter, 18-14. McKendree pulled within one point off UMSL off of a senior guard
Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) three-pointer. The Bearcats weren't able to regain the lead and took a six point deficit into the half, 35-29.
Senior guard
Madison Hart (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) opened the second half with a three point play by drawing an UMSL foul on a made layup to once again get within three points of the Tritons 35-32. Missouri-St. Louis regained control finished out the third quarter with a 58-43 lead over the Bearcats. UMSL maintained the strong lead throughout the fourth quarter and went on to win the game 77-53.
Second chance opportunities proved costly for the Bearcats as they allowed 22 offensive rebounds for the Tritons to score 21 of their 77 points off of second chances. McKendree did force more Triton turnovers then they allowed. As a team, the Bearcats also remained perfect from behind the free throw line while UMSL only shot 71.4 percent.
Hart and junior guard
Callie Pohlman (Appleton, WI/Appleton North) tallied double-digit points for the Bearcats, Hart with 13 points and Pohlman with 11. Hart was also a lead rebounder for McKendree alongside freshman guard
Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln), both with four rebounds. Senior forward
Shayli Florine (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg) was the assist leader for the Bearcats with four assists.
The Bearcats will continue its four game road stretch with games at Missouri S&T, Maryville on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8. Tip-off in Rolla, Mo. is set for 5:30 p.m. while the game on Feb. 8 in St. Louis, Mo. is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
