Adriana Rodriguez nailed the biggest shot of her young collegiate career Thursday as she hit a layup at the buzzer to give the William Jewell women's basketball team a 50-48 win over Missouri-St. Louis in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Cardinals move to 8-13 on the year, 3-7 in the GLVC, and earn their first road conference win. 

Hear Rodriguez describe her game-winning shot during Saturday's "HyVee Halftime Report" by clicking the link above.

A back-and-forth game from the tip, the Tritons held a 29-26 advantage late in the second quarter before a backdoor pass from freshman guard Blair Klostermann to Meagan Paul pulled the Cardinals within one (29-28). Klostermann hit a three on the next trip down the floor to put Jewell up 31-29, a lead they did not relinquish until the fourth quarter. 

With 3:37 remaining in the third period it looked as though the Cardinals were gaining some separtation as a steal and layup from Logan Antenen gave Jewell their largest lead of the night at 40-35. However, the only points the Cards would score the remainder of the quarter was a free throw by Maddie Nelson to give Jewell a slim 41-40 lead heading into the final ten minutes. 

During the fourth quarter UMSL grabbed their first lead since the first half at 47-46. Rodriguez hit two free throws to put Jewell back in front but the lead was short lived as the Triton's Kelly Kunkel hit a free shot of her own to tie the game at 48-all. The two teams remained deadlocked for nearly three minutes thanks to Klostermann securing the tie with 90 seconds to play as she blocked an open layup by UMSL. 

A Triton turnover gave Jewell the ball with 27 seconds remaining in the contest. Head Coach Jill Slominski called a timeout and refocused her team on the play they wanted to run, however UMSL defended the play well, as the ball was knocked lose. Rodriguez picked up the ball with nearly no time remaining and put up the last second layup as the buzzer sounded to give the Cardinals the 50-48 victory. 

A great defensive game, as both teams combined to score just 17 total points over the final ten minutes of the game, despite above average shooting percentages. 

As a team the Cardinals shot 38 percent from the floor and hit 11-15 free throws. Jewell was quiet from the three-point line in the second half going 0-10 from behind the arc, after hitting five treys in the second quarter alone. 

Nelson led Jewell with 14 points and five steals on the night. Meagan Paul added eight points, all in the first half, on 2-5 from the three point line. Klostermann, who ran the offense well with Nelson out with foul trouble, contributed seven points, seven rebounds, and a steal. Rodriguez, scored all four of her points in the fourth quarter while also pulling down six rebounds. Madison Campbell led Jewell on the boards with eight. 

Up next, is another big GLVC matchup with the Saints of Maryville University on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo.