February 04, 2012

Women’s Basketball Falls Short in Rally at William Jewell

Box Score

LIBERTY, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s basketball team rallied from several double-digit deficits and pulled within four points in the final two minutes, but couldn’t pull out the victory, dropping a 62-54 decision at William Jewell College Saturday afternoon.

Senior Caitlyn Moody led the Tritons with 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss as UMSL slips to 9-12 overall, including 4-9 in the GLVC. William Jewell improves its ledger to 12-7 and 7-6 in the league with the win.

The host Cardinals opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt to push their advantage to 38-23 with 17:18 remaining. The Tritons responded with nine unanswered points, including five from Deaven Omohundro and closed the gap to 38-32 on an Emily Brumitt free throw at the 11:06 mark. Meanwhile, the Cardinals suffered through a stretch of nearly seven minutes without scoring, but a Cassy Nicolay bucket at the 10:49 mark ignited eight straight points that put the William Jewell lead back into double figures at 46-32 with 8:46 to play.

The Tritons wouldn’t go away, however, as eight straight UMSL points 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.

William Jewell held a 29-21 lead at the break, scoring the final four points for the opening 20 minutes, while the Tritons went the final 2:49 without scoring and the final 3:44 without a field goal. UMSL was limited to 22.6 percent shooting in the first half and made just 1-of-11 three-pointers. The Cardinals posted their largest lead of the half of eight points at 8:09 after a Holly Switzer free throw capped a 7-0 run.

The Tritons finished the game shooting 30.8 percent and owned a 34-32 rebounding advantage, including a 17-9 edge on the offensive end, while William Jewell shot 35.8 percent.

UMSL, which will close out the remainder of its schedule with four of five games at home, will host Missouri S&T on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.