CHICAGO – A sluggish second half on offense was Roosevelt's undoing in a 54-52 loss to Missouri St. Louis to open the 2025-26 regular season Friday at the Goodman Center.
The Lakers (0-1) came out focused and with a purpose in the first half and didn't trail in the opening 20 minutes while building a lead as large as 10. Roosevelt shot 50 percent from the floor in the first quarter and 19-11 behind Isabella Pitta scoring the first eight points of the game for the Lakers. Roosevelt cooled off a bit in the second quarter, but still shot 43 percent to take a 34-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
UMSL's defense shut down the Lakers to start the second half as Roosevelt went seven minutes without scoring in the third quarter until Isabel Lindo hit a layup. Despite the cold streak, the Laker did not surrender the lead with Lindo's layup simply restoring the Lakers advantage at 36-34.
The Tritons did not take their first lead of the game until early in the fourth quarter, but Abby Bradbury responded with a 3-pointer to reclaim the lead for Roosevelt. UMSL took its biggest lead at 48-42 with 4:48 left in the game, but Roosevelt found some offensive flow in the nick of time. Kelly Boyle hit a 3-pointer between a pair of Kencia Levasseur layups to supply a quick 7-0 spurt in just over a minute.
Brynne Katcher brought the Lakers within a point with 33 seconds left then UMSL missed one of its two free throws to give Roosevelt the ball with a chance to win the game. Both Boyle and Katcher had chances to tie the game in the final 10 seconds, but both attempts were slightly off to allow the Tritons to escape. The Lakers shot just 20.7 percent from the field in the second half while UMSL was slightly better and 7 of 20 over the last 20 minutes.
Boyle led the Lakers with 10 points followed by a foursome of players that finished on eight points and Levasseur who ended with seven. Marie Outlay again stole the show on defense with six steals, 12 rebounds and a block to go along with her eight points. Katcher was 4 of 5 from the field to score her eight points and Lindo also was among the quartet with eight points.
Levasseur added six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists to her total as a key part of Roosevelt's dominance on the interior. The Lakers finished with a 34-29 edge in rebounds, a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint and a 5-0 lead in second-chance points.
UP NEXT: The Lakers will honor Levasseur as the program's only senior prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. tipoff against Maryville at the Goodman Center.
