ST. LOUIS – Claire Lueken scored a career-high 25 points as the Maryville women's basketball team triumphed over Truman State 80-74. The freshman forward sank 8-of-14 shots, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while Lindsey Schadewalt finished with 22 points. Annika Pluemer added 14 points. The win is the 21st of the season for the Saints, the most in the Division II era.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Truman led 10-7 before the Saints scored the final 10 points of the first quarter. Adylan Ayer sparked the spree with a jumper, and Olivia Hahn converted a layup. After two free throws by Schadelwalt, Helen Ben tacked on one. A Lueken 3-pointer built the Saints a 17-10 lead.
 
The teams traded scores early in the second before the Saints scored 11 straight. Lueken started the surge with a layup, and Pluemer scored on back-to-back layups. After another Lueken bucket, Schadewalt drilled a triple for a 33-17 advantage. Truman closed the gap to 38-25 by halftime.
 
In the third, the Saints maintained the edge at 55-40 after a layup and 3-pointer by Lueken. Truman chopped into the deficit and got the gap down to 56-46 heading into the final quarter. The Saints will still leading 64-52 on a Schadewalt layup before Truman started heating up from beyond the arc.
 
Three straight triples and a layup brought Truman to 64-63 with five minutes to play. Olivia Hahn grabbed an offensive rebound and put up a reverse layup to restore a 66-63 advantage. Still up by one, Pluemer converted one free throw before Schadewalt and Lueken sank layups for a 71-65 edge. Another triple drew TSU to 71-68 before Pluemer scored on a driving layup. The teams traded turnovers until Ayer made two free throws. Yet another 3-pointer by Truman made it 75-51 but Pluemer converted four straight free throws in the waning seconds to preserve the victory.  

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points: Claire Lueken - 25
Rebounds: Adylan Ayer - 7
Assists: Bree Shannon - 5
3-Pointers: Claire Lueken - 4
Steals: Adylan Ayer and Bree Shannon - 2
Blocked Shots: Bree Shannon and Helen Ben - 1
 
RECORDS
Maryville: 21-6, 15-4
Truman State: 15-11, 12-6
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Saints close the regular season with a contest at Southwest Baptist, Thursday, Feb. 26.