Box Score Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri S&T Lady Miners survived a wild one in defeating Pittsburg State 78-75 on Friday evening in the Fairfield Inn/Pizza Hut Missouri Southern Thanksgiving Classic in Joplin, Mo. S&T was able to escape with the victory when PSU's three point attempt at the buzzer hit high off the back rim and was controlled by Lauren Dubbert (Madison, Mo./Madison).

The first half was tightly contested with six ties and 16 lead changes in the opening frame and neither side had bigger than a five point advantage. The Lady Miners (3-1) began to take control of the first half with a 6-1 run to take the largest lead of the half 25-20 at the 6:35 mark but the Gorillas (3-2) stormed right back with seven of their own to regain a 27-25 advantage almost a minute later. S&T regained the lead thanks to five straight points from Tamara McCaskill (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) before the teams traded leads over the final three minutes with each team answering point for point. The Gorillas took a 35-32 lead with 1:09 to play in the frame but the Lady Miners scored the final four points of the half to head into the half with a 36-35 lead.

S&T struggled shooting the ball in the opening frame making only 39 percent (12-of-31) from the field but made 10-of-12 (83 percent) at the foul line while the Gorillas were slightly better at 16-of-36 (44 percent) but went to the line only two times (missing both).

The Lady Miners came out of the gates strong in the second half opening on a 14-2 run to build their lead to double digits at 50-37 only five minutes in. Pitt State put in five new players and began pressing S&T allowing the Gorillas to get back in the game and eventually take the lead at 55-54 at the 8:59 mark. The Lady Miners regained the lead thanks to a put back by Brittany Percival (Hartville, Mo./Hartville ) and a three pointer by Jazmine Bell (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) to go back up 59-55 but the Gorillas refused to go away answering with seven in a row to grab the lead back at 62-59 with 5:39 to play. After a Katie McElrath (Owasso, Okla./Owasso) jumper tied it at 62-62, PSU retook the lead on a lay-up at the 4:35 mark but S&T regained the lead on an old fashioned three point play from McCaskill made it 65-64 just 0:14 later. Pitt regained a one point lead on a pair of Buchanan free throws at the 3:45 mark setting up a wild final three minutes.

Dubbert banked home a three right in front of the Lady Miner bench at the 3:00 mark sparking an 8-0 run by S&T over the next 1:30 giving it a seven point lead but back-to-back three's from the Gorillas and poor free throw shooting by the Lady Miners allowed PSU to get within 73-72 with 0:49 remaining. After a S&T turnover the Gorillas had a chance to regain the lead but made only 1-of-2 at the foul line to tie the game at 73 with 0:40 left. Jaz Bell dropped in a pair of free throws with 0:19 left allowing S&T to regain the lead at 75-73 but a Laura Glenn lay-up tied the game back up at 75 with just :07 left. On the ensuing possession Bell was fouled and made just 1-of-2 but McElrath grabbed the rebound and knocked home both free tosses to push the lead back to three and then held on after PSU's last chance shot was long.

The Lady Miners turned it over 17 times and were just 12-of-23 at the line in the second half but made 52 percent (14-of-27) from the field to get the win. McCaskill recorded a double-double with a game-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds to lead four S&T players in double figures. McElrath also had a double-double with 17 and 13 while Dubbert finished with 12 and Bell had 11.