February 08, 2012
Live Stats | Listen Live | Watch Live
SETTING THE SCENE
The University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s basketball team hosts Missouri S&T Thursday in the start of a three-game homestand before entertaining Drury on Saturday. The Tritons will play four of their final five regular season games at home.
LAST TIME OUT
UMSL slipped to 9-12 overall, including 4-9 in the GLVC, with a 62-54 loss at William Jewell last Saturday. The Tritons rallied from several double-digit deficits and pulled within four points in the final two minutes, but couldn’t pull out the victory. Senior Caitlyn Moody led the Tritons with 17 points and nine rebounds. Eight straight UMSL points midway through the second half helped jump start an 11-2 run that was capped by a Moody traditional three-point play to make it 48-43 with 6:19 remaining. UMSL pulled within four twice in the final 3:29, including at the 1:51 mark on a Moody jumper that made it 56-52, but William Jewell went 6-of-6 at the free throw line from that point on to ensure the win.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Missouri S&T is 15-6 overall with a 9-4 GLVC mark and sits in third place in the league’s West Division, one game behind Quincy and Dury, who are tied for first. Hailee Parks averages 14.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Lady Miners, while Julie Meyer adds 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
Drury enters a Thursday contest at Maryville with a 15-6 overall mark, including a 10-3 record in the GLVC, and sits in a tie for the West Division lead with Quincy. The Panthers had a four-game win streak snapped with a 63-53 loss to Quincy last Saturday. Bethani Funderburk averages 15.4 points per game, while Katie Pritchard adds 12.0 points per game behind a team-best 49 three-pointers.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
Missouri S&T 67, UMSL 54 (12-3-11)
An 11-4 run in the final 4:16 of the first half gave the host Lady Miners the 36-31 edge at the intermission. Missouri S&T then scored seven unanswered points to open the second stanza before taking its largest lead of the game at 51-39 on a Karli Sample free throw with 10:38 to play. The Tritons responded with 10 straight points, capped by Smith jumper that pulled UMSL within two at 51-49 just under the eight minute mark. However, a 13-3 Missouri S&T run over the next 5:33 put the Lady Miners back up 64-52 en route to the win. Senior Caitlyn Moody led UMSL with a game-high 16 points, while junior Devonna Smith added 12 points and nine rebounds
Drury 100, UMSL 69 (12-1-11)
Drury’s Bethanie Funderburk poured in a game-high 37 points, helping the then No. 24 ranked Panthers to the win. Drury also used a quick start - scoring the game’s first nine points - and solid shooting to secure the win, connecting at 57.4 percent from the field, including 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from three-point range, while the Tritons were held without a field goal until 13:54 when junior Devonna Smith scored her only two points of the first half to make it 9-3. Senior Caitlyn Moody paced UMSL with 14 points.
THE SERIES
Missouri S&T leads the all-time series with UMSL, 33-16, and has won four straight meetings. The Lady Miners posted a 74-61 victory in St. Louis last season. The Tritons’ last win came in the first meeting between the teams during the 2009-10 season in Rolla, with UMSL earning an 83-75 win.
Drury has won all 16 previous meetings, including a 57-50 overtime win in St. Louis last season.
AN UMSL WIN AGAINST MISSOURI S&T WOULD...
... snap a four-game losing streak to the Lady Miners.
... be the Tritons’ third straight home win.
MOOD-TASTIC
Senior Caitlyn Moody, who leads the team with 13.6 points per game and adds 5.0 rebounds per game, has also left her mark on the Tritons program, currently ranking in the top 10 in several categories, including:
1st - free throw percentage (84.0)
3rd - three-pointers attempted (533)
3rd - blocked shots (55)
4th - three-pointers made (158)
4th - field goals attempted (1,161)
5th - scoring (1,198 points)
9th - free throws made (216)
NEWEST 1,000-POINT CLUB MEMBER
Senior Caitlyn Moody became the 12th member of the UMSL 1,000-point club on December 10 in the win over Missouri Baptist. Moody, who entered the contest with 999 career points, scored her 1,000th point at the free throw line at the 19:10 mark to give the Tritons their first point of the game.
MOODY IN THE GLVC
Caitlyn Moody ranks third in the GLVC in free throw percentage (86.1 percent) and is 13th in the league in scoring.
A WELCOMED ADDITION
Junior Devonna Smith has been a welcome on the court for the Tritons this season, leading the team with a GLVC second-best 8.9 rebounds per game. She also paces the squad with 1.0 blocks per game - which ranks sixth in the GLVC - and is second in scoring at 11.7 points per game. Her six double-doubles this season are also a team-best.
Smith spent last season at Mineral Area CC after one year at Saint Louis University. While at MACC, she averaged 7.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.
20-VISION
Devonna Smith pulled down 20 rebounds at Indianapolis on Jan. 14, the third best single season total in program history.
CARTER CAN
Senior Kelly Carter currently ranks fourth all-time in career three-point field goal percentage, connecting at 38.8 percent. Additionally, she has dished out 178 career assists - needing 10 more to break into the all-time top 10.
TOURNAMENT MVP
Junior Devonna Smith was named the tournament MVP of the St. Edwards Classic after averaging 17 points, nine rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game in two contests for UMSL. The Tritons opened the season with an 88-79 loss to St. Edwards before bouncing back for an 85-76 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State.
HEAD COACH LISA CURLISS-TAYLOR
Lisa Curliss-Taylor is in her fifth season as the head coach of the UMSL women’s basketball team, where she is 45-87 (.340). She came to UMSL from East Texas Baptist where she spent four years and is 102-135 (.430) in nine years as a head coach.
UP NEXT
UMSL closes out a three-game homestand next Thursday, hosting Quincy before traveling to Illinois-Springfield on Saturday.
Go Back
