Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners went cold from the floor making only four shots in the final ten minutes of the ball game and it ended up hurting them in a 73-68 loss to Missouri Southern on Wednesday evening in Rolla, Mo.

S&T (3-3) got off to bad start as it missed its first four shots of the game and turned the ball over three times which allowed the Lions (6-2) to get out to a 6-0 lead. The Lady Miners finally got on the board a little over four minutes into the contest on a jumper by Courtney Kemp.

From that point the remainder of the first half was tight as neither side held more than a three-point lead the rest of the way. The Lady Miners took their first lead of the ball game at 11-10 on a lay-up by Andrea Downs (Chicago, Ill./Harlan Community Academy) at the 12:21 mark. Jazmine Bell extended the lead to three with a jumper nearly 0:40 later.

The Lions regained the lead on a jumper by LaTice Jones at the 10:29 mark and the two sides would trade leads for the next eight minutes. Missouri Southern regained the lead on a lay-up by Jones and built a 31-28 advantage with just over three minutes to play, but S&T was able to tie it back up on a free throw by Katelyn Heil and then Brittany Percival went to the line and knocked down two more free throws after a technical foul was assessed on the Lion bench.

Those free throws sparked a 6-0 run as Heil nailed a three to give the Lady Miners a 34-31 lead with 2:13 remaining. The Lions cut the lead back to one on a lay-up by Jasmine Lovejoy before Hailee Parks gave S&T its three point lead back with a pair of free throws.

Missouri Southern cut the lead back to one though on a jumper by Jones with 0:20 left which sent the teams into the locker room with the Lady Miners leading 36-35.

Each team shot the ball well in the frame as they were well over 40 percent from the floor but the Lions had the edge in points in the paint outscoring S&T 28-14 and 12-4 in points off turnovers. The Lady Miners converted on 10-of-13 from the foul line.

Missouri Southern opened the second half strong scoring eight of the first 13 points to regain a 43-40 lead only three minutes in. The lead was short lived though as S&T battled back scoring four straight points to regain the lead at 44-43 almost two minutes later. Jolea Apon's three almost 0:20 later gave the Lions the lead back at 46-44.

The Lady Miners came right back with a 7-1 run to regain the lead with less than 12 minutes to play. The Lions would get back to within two on a lay-up by Myriah Hicks before Kemp pushed it back to five when she got her three-pointer to rattle home.

Southern cut the lead back to down to a point on a Lovejoy lay-up with 8:22 to play. S&T responded with back-to-back buckets by Parks and Bell extending the lead back to five points. The Lady Miners had their opportunity to extend their lead but Parks missed on a lay-up and then Bell missed a pair of free throws with 5:44 to play.

That sparked Southern as tied the game with back-to-back lay-ups before Kemp hit a pair of free throws to give S&T the lead back at 61-59. The Lions again tied the game on pair of free throws by Kelby Fritz then regained a three-point lead as a Lovejoy hit 3-of-4 free throws making it 64-61 with 2:42 to play.

Parks got the Lady Miners back to within a point with a lay-up for their first field goal in over four minutes. S&T was only 4-of-15 from the floor in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Apon gave the Lions their three point lead back off a back door lay-up with less than two minutes to play.

Downs tried to get S&T back to within one but was called for an offensive foul giving the ball back to Southern with 1:23 to play.

The Lions gave the Lady Miners the ball right back when Fritz was called for an illegal screen with 1:10 to play but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity when Parks missed an open jumper. Southern got the rebound and Kemp fouled Fritz who went to the line hitting a pair of free throws extending the lead back to five with 0:44 left.

After a missed three by Percival and ensuing rebound by the Lions the Lady Miners were forced to foul again this time sending Michelle Hedgecock to the line and she made 1-of-2 to extend the lead to six points.

Downs cut the lead in half with three-pointer with 0:21 left but S&T couldn't get any closer than that as the Lions went 4-for-4 at the line in the final 0:20 to seal the win.

Southern shot 45 percent (9-for-20) in the second half and were 19-of-25 (76 percent) at the foul line while the Lady Miners were held to 36 percent (10-of-28) shooting and were 9-for-11 from the foul line.

Kemp led three S&T players in double figures with 14 points. Parks dropped in 11 while Downs finished with 10.

Lovejoy led all players with 25 points while Jones contributed 14.

The Lady Miners return home on Saturday afternoon to take on Westminster College beginning at 1 p.m.