ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Upper Iowa women's basketball (14-15) concluded its season with a hard-fought 66-56 loss to No. 25 Missouri-St. Louis (23-4) in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Freshman Kendyl Lodermeier scored a team-high 17 points while Ava Privet and Ellie Foster added 12 each.
UIU took a 12-10 lead early, aided by Bryar Duwe hitting a couple of early jumpers. Missouri-St. Louis responded with an 11-0 run to end the first quarter, eventually pushing it up to 18-0 for a 28-12 lead midway through the second quarter. The Peacocks were held scoreless for eight minutes before Foster hit a jumper with 5:32 remaining in the half.
The Peacocks were 0-14 from the field with three turnovers during those eight minutes. UIU ended the half down 33-23 after ending the half on a 7-2 spurt. Lodermeier scored six points in the final five minutes of the 1st half, and UIU finished 10-of-38 (26.3%) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Upper Iowa started the second half strong with a 7-0 run with five points from Foster, cutting the lead to 33-30. Mara Rieder responded quickly for the Tritons with a jumper before Sydnee Nelson brought it back down to three points again after a layup.
The Tritons followed with a 9-2 run to push the lead back to 10 points. Amelia Valentino hit a 3-pointer, and Rieder hit a turnaround jumper to give UMSL a nine-point lead entering the final quarter.
Trailing 52-44, Nelson hit a jump shot and got a steal, dishing the ball off to Privet for a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to four. Privet had a chance a possession later to cut the lead down to two, but could not convert to get the Peacocks within a score. UMSL kept UIU away down the stretch to win, 66-56.
Lodermeier's 17 points were her fourth-highest total of the season. The freshman finished the year scoring double digits in 10 of the last 11 games. She added four rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Foster finished with 12 points, five rebounds and an assist. With a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, she broke the program's single-season 3-point record with 81, previously held by Ashley Martin in 2005-06. She finished the season with 431 points, tying Mia Huberty in 2023-24 for 11th in program history. The graduate scored double digits in 24 out of 28 games this season.
Privet added 12 points, a steal and a rebound. She made 67 3-pointers this season, the fifth-most in program history. Nelson added six points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. The junior point guard finished the season with 115 assists, the eighth-most in program history.
Duwe had four points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Valentino scored three points and Magi Bjornson had two. Josie Foster led the team in rebounds with seven. Kenzie Deaton had a rebound and a steal.
Rieder, the GLVC Player of the Year, nearly had a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks to lead the Tritons. Anna Costa Riera and Jayden Kuper both had 17 points.
Upper Iowa had 20 fouls compared to only eight by Missouri-St. Louis. That led to the Tritons shooting 20-of-29 (69%) from the line while the Peacocks were 3-of-6 (50%). UIU shot 24-of-68 (35.3%) from the field while going 5-of-23 (21.7%) on 3-pointers. UMSL shot 22-of-51 (43.1%) in total and 2-of-13 (15.4%) from behind the arc.
UIU outscored UMSL 30-28 in the paint and 12-9 off turnovers. The Tritons outrebounded Upper Iowa 44-33. UMSL led for 36:36 of the contest.
The Peacocks fall to 1-3 in the GLVC Tournament since joining in 2023-24, making the tournament all three seasons. The 14 wins are the second-most under head coach Justin Maass since joining the program in 2022-23, and it is the fourth-most wins in a season in program history.
