Mara Rieder scored a career-high 34 points off the bench on Saturday to lead the Tritons to a road 77-70 road victory over Southwest Baptist. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)

Women’s Basketball
Mara Rieder poured in a career-high 34 points off the bench on Saturday in Bolivar, Missouri, to help the University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s basketball team top Southwest Baptist and salvage a split from last week’s road trip to southwest Missouri. The Tritons beat the Bearcats 77-70, two days after falling to No. 23 Drury 89-68. Morgan Ramthun, Amaya Blake and Alex Wolff each scored 10 points in the victory. Ramthun also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, and UMSL (12-13, 10-9 Great Lakes Valley Conference) held Southwest Baptist to 40.6% shooting, including 28.6% in the final quarter to hold off the Bearcats’ rally. The defense was not nearly so stout against the Panthers, who connected on 60.7% of their field-goal attempts, including going 11 for 20 from 3-point range, in a lopsided victory. Jalysa Stokes, playing for the first time since Jan. 27, scored a game-high 24 points. Blake added 12 points, and Ramthun had 10 and a team-best nine rebounds in the loss. The Tritons’ lone game this week will be Saturday at McKendree.

Men’s Basketball
UMSL battled Drury into overtime on Thursday night only to come out on the losing end of an 81-76 final in Springfield, Missouri, but the Tritons bounced back on Saturday with a 70-55 victory at Southwest Baptist. Matt Enright and Mayson Quartlebaum each scored 17 points to pace UMSL against Drury, and the Tritons also got 14 points from Emanuel Prospere II and 11 from Troy Glover II on a night when they shot 48.3% from the field. That wasn’t quite enough to keep pace with the Panthers, who shot 56.4% from the field, including 4 for 6 in overtime, and forced 16 UMSL turnovers. The Tritons were stingier on defense and did a better job protecting the ball against Southwest Baptist, holding the Bearcats to 42% shooting and committing only five turnovers. Enright had a team-high 19 points, and Glover added 18 points and seven rebounds. Coach Bob Sundvold‘s team also got 13 points off the bench from Georden Rogers. UMSL (11-14, 9-8 GLVC) will visit McKendree on Saturday in its lone game of the week.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Benjamin VandenBrink won the men’s 3,000-meter race at Friday’s Illinois College Hilltop Classic in what was the Tritons’ track and field teams’ tuneup before next week’s GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championships. VandenBrink posted a winning time of 8 minutes, 38.30 seconds in the race in Jacksonville, Illinois. Luke Hall placed 10th in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 2:03.89, and Elijah DeBose was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 9.5 inches and eighth in the high jump after clearing 5 feet, 7 inches. On the women’s side, Kennedy Moore finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 34-5.5 and eighth in the high jump clearing 4-5. Teammates Makayla Brown and Melissa White joined her in the top 10 in the triple jump, placing sxith and eighth, respectively. Next week’s GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion in Indianapolis.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming
UMSL swimmers set a pair of school records at the University of Indianapolis’ Last Chance Meet Friday evening at the Ruth Lilly Center in Indianapolis. Hendrik Bechtel topped his own school mark in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 25.91 seconds, improving upon his NCAA provisional qualifying time. Aaron Wicklund, meanwhile, broke Patryk Golinski‘s school record in the 400-yard individual medley by a tenth of a second, touching the wall in 3:55.86. The NCAA is slated to announce the competitors for the national championship meet on Feb. 28. The meet will begin March 12 in Geneva, Ohio.

Baseball
The Tritons swept a doubleheader on Sunday at Kentucky Wesleyan as they opened a weather-delayed four-game series in Owenboro, Kentucky. Garrett Brunstetter, Nate Kemp and Jason Arndt combined to hold the Panthers to one run in a 4-1 Game 1 victory. Arndt tossed three scoreless innings to collect the save. Braedon Stokes hit a solo home run, and Logan McIntyre and Barrett Rose each drove in a run. UMSL scored a 7-2 victory in Game 2. Andrew Buescher homered in the win, and starter R.J. Elmore limited Kentucky Wesleyan to two runs in seven innings to earn the victory. Catcher Garrett Stenger had a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in two runs. The two teams will wrap up their four-game series with a doubleheader on Monday, and UMSL will be idle until taking on Saginaw Valley on March 1 in its home opener.

Softball
UMSL opened its season by going 2-1 over the weekend at the Emporia State University Five-State Classic at Turnbull Field in Emporia, Kansas. The Tritons battered Wayne State 18-2 in five innings in Saturday’s opener and topped Sioux Falls 6-4 on Sunday morning before losing to Concordia-St. Paul 12-2 in five innings on Sunday afternoon. Irene Travis went 5 for 9 and drove in a pair of runs on the opening weekend. Gwyn Miller had three hits, including a home run and a double, and scored a team-high six runs. Simi Spahiev and Katie Schaake also homered, and they combined for 11 RBI. Pitcher Ashley Borowitz picked up a pair of victories after yielding six runs, five earned, in starts against Wayne State and Sioux Falls. She totaled 12 strikeouts and had one complete game. UMSL (2-1) will play six games over three days in next weekened’s Independence Bank Blue Ridge Battle at Deaconess Park in Evansville, Indiana.

Men’s Golf
The Tritons opened their spring schedule by placing ninth in the Houston Classic, played last Monday and Tuesday at the Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas. UMSL finished the 54-hole tournament with a combine score of 925. Senior Zach Unnerstall was the Tritons’ top finisher with a total of 224, including a final-round 71, to tie for 18th overall. Sophomore Leo Baudry joined him in the top 25 after posting a total of 227, tied for 24th. Midwestern State’s Seth Bearden was the individual medalist finishing with a score of 212, and he led his team to the championship with a winning score of 883. UMSL will next play as the host team in the Las Vegas Desert Classic beginning March 3 at Boulder Creek Golf Club on the Desert Hawk and Coyote Run Courses.