Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners won a wild one over Arkansas-Fort Smith 73-72 on Monday evening at home despite a frantic final 0:30 of regulation which saw Fort Smith miss a pair of shots including a three at the buzzer that would have won the game.

The Lady Miners (5-3) were able to hang on for the win despite shooting 33.3 percent in the second half (9-for-27) from the floor, missing seven free throws including three in the final minute and turning it over 11 times. The Lady Lions (2-7) on the other hand were able to make a game of it by making 40 percent of their shots in the frame and were led by Monica Spearman's 15 second half points.

S&T led by as many as nine in the second half but UA-Fort Smith refused to go away keeping the ball game close trailing by a 6-to-8 point margin for the first nine minutes of the stanza. The Lady Lions made their run going on an 11-0 spurt started by Spearman with three straight baskets. Ashley Arnold gave Fort Smith its first lead since the 8:54 mark of the first half when she connected on a three making it 58-57 with 9:11 remaining in the contest. Vasha Sanders capped the run with a pair of free throws to make it 60-57.

After a lay-up by Andrea Downs cut the deficit back to one Tracey Parsons converted on an old fashioned three-point play to give the Lady Lions a 63-59 lead with 8:41 remaining.

The Lady Miners answered back by hitting six straight free throws in a 0:45 stretch allowing them to retake the lead at 65-63 on Chelsea Stangel's two makes at the charity stripe.

Spearman's three gave Fort Smith the lead back at 66-65 on the ensuing possession, but D'Naya Mims answered right back almost a minute later when she scored on a lay-up. She then had the chance to give S&T a three point advantage but made only 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it 68-66.

Once again the Lady Lions refused to yield and tied the game on a jumper by Chelsea Sublett then regained the lead when Sanders hit 1-of-2 at the foul line with less than five minutes remaining.

Mims put the Lady Miners back on top with a pair of free throws at the 3:09 mark but Sublett answered with a jumper nearly 0:30 later to put Fort Smith back up 71-70.

S&T retook the lead when Mims grabbed a rebound of a missed lay-up and stuck it back in giving the Lady Miners a 72-71 lead with 2:20 remaining.

The Lady Lions had a chance to regain the lead when Sanders went to the foul line with 1:46 but she was only able to make 1-of-2 to tie the game back up.

After an S&T turnover, Julie Meyer stepped in front of a pass from Parsons and appeared to have a wide open path to the bucket to give the Lady Miners the lead, but she lost control off the ball and was able to recover to keep the possession with S&T.

After a Lady Miner timeout Meyer went strong to the basket and was fouled by Sublett with 0:51 to go to the foul line and had the chance to give S&T the lead but she missed both free throws to keep the game tied. Fort Smith came down the floor with a chance to regain the lead but Jazmine Bell got a steal deep in the corner and was fouled with 0:41 left.

She made the first free throw to give the Lady Miners the lead back then missed the second one keeping the door open for UAFS. The Lady Lions came down and had a chance to regain the lead but Monica Williams missed a lay-up and Bell came away with the rebound with 0:28 left.

She got the ball in the hands of Courtney Kemp who went in for a contested lay-up but missed it with 0:11 left and Fort Smith got the rebound and a chance at the game winning shot.

The Lady Lions got the ball in Spearman's hands but she was unable to hang onto it and kicked it across court where it was picked up at the time line by Sublett who put up desperation three at the buzzer that was well short allowing the Lady Miners to escape with the win.

The Lady Miners led the game 41-34 at the half shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor (15-for-31).

S&T finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the floor and were led in scoring by Mims with 15 points. She was 6-for-6 from the floor and also hauled in eight rebounds to lead the squad. Downs and Bell were the other two players in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively.

Spearman led all scorers with 19 points for Fort Smith and was joined in double figures by Sanders with 17 and Williams with 13. The Lady Lions shot 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the floor for the ball game.

The Lady Miners return to action next week when they travel to Pensacola, Fla., to take part in the West Florida Holiday Classic. They open on Tuesday afternoon against West Alabama at 12 p.m.