ST. LOUIS, Mo. – No. 2 seed Maryville won the 2026 Great Lakes Valley (GLVC) Women’s Basketball Championship title on Sunday with an 83-75 double-overtime victory over top seed Missouri-St. Louis.
Maryville, with its second overall and first league title since the 2012, clinches the league’s automatic-qualifying bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional where they will face the top seed and hosts Grand Valley State.
The Saints used a strong second quarter to lead by 13 at the half, with Maryville holding UMSL to only three made baskets in quarter two. The Tritons rallied back, holding the Saints to only three made baskets in the third quarter as Maryville only led the three heading into the fourth. Four quarters was not enough to split the teams as UMSL and Maryville went into the first-ever overtime game in the GLVC Women’s Basketball title match. Neither side could truly pull ahead in the first overtime as the largest lead either team had was three. In the second overtime period the Saints poured it on, starting off on a 6-2 run and ballooning the lead to the eight-point margin thanks to late game free throws.
Four of the five Maryville starters finished in double figures, led by Claire Lueken’s team-high 24 points on 10-of-21 (.476) shooting, while she also added nine rebounds, and two steals. Annika Pluemer, Lindsey Schadewalt, and Gracie Gopalan also scored in double figures with Pluemer adding 18, Schadewalt 17, and Gopalan 13. Pluemer added three steals on the defensive end.
UMSL was paced by Jayden Kuper and Mara Rieder who had 25 and 24 points respectively. Morgan Ramthun added 10 rebounds while Jaeda Wilson provided 10 points and seven boards off the bench.
Lueken and Gopalan were named to the All-Tournament Team, while UMSL’s Rieder and Kuper as well as Drury’s Sara Mendel rounded out the five-player squad.
2026 GLVC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Claire Lueken, MU
- Gracie Gopalan, MU
- Mara Rieder, UMSL
- Jayden Kuper, UMSL
- Sara Mendel, DU