Box Score (Rensselaer, Ind.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners held a double digit halftime lead and had to withstand a couple of second half rallies by Saint Joseph's en route to picking up its third straight win 75-65 on Thursday evening in Rensselaer, Ind.

The Lady Miners (10-5, 5-2 GLVC) got off to good start by scoring six of the game's first seven points and never looked back as they built an early eight point lead not quite six minutes into the contest. The Pumas (3-12, 1-5 GLVC) would eventually cut the lead to 21-18 at the 8:07 mark, before S&T seized control with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes.

Courtney Kemp got the run going with a jumper in the paint then Julie Meyer took over scoring six of her 12 first half points in the run. She also had three rebounds and a couple of assists in the run. Andrea Downs capped the run with a three-pointer giving the Lady Miners their biggest lead of the game at 37-20 with 3:54 left in the opening frame.

Saint Joseph's closed the half on an 8-3 run to get within 12 points by the intermission.

The Lady Miners shot the ball well from the floor connecting on 16-for-30 (53.3 percent), but struggled at the foul line making just 4-of-9. Meyer led S&T with 12 first half points while Katelyn Heil and Hailee Parks chipped in with six points each. Parks also finished the frame with 10 rebounds.

The Pumas shot just 32 percent (12-for-31) from the floor and were just 3-of-10 at the charity stripe. Tatiana Ortiz and Erica Jiles had six apiece to lead SJC.

The Pumas and Lady Miners traded buckets for the first few minutes to start the second half before SJC went on a 6-0 run to cut S&T's halftime deficit in half on a three by Natalie Applehans.

Kemp answered with a three of her own to extend the lead back to nine, but the Pumas wouldn't go away as they would cut it to 51-46 on a three by Brittney Cruse with 12:20 left in the contest.

S&T quickly pushed the lead back to double digits with a 7-1 run behind four points from Kemp and two from Meyer.

The lead would remain around the 10 point margin for roughly the next four minutes before Saint Joseph's made one final run cutting it back down to six points with 5:11 left.

The Lady Miners though were able to make their shots down the stretch and were able to put the Pumas away as Andrea Downs (Chicago, Ill./Harlan Community Academy) scored seven of her 12 points in the final five minutes while Parks added five.

S&T shot just under 50 percent (12-for-26) from the floor in the second stanza and finished the game making 28-of-56 (50 percent). Its struggles at the foul line continued though as they made just 9-of-17 from the charity stripe.

Saint Joseph's also shot near 50 percent (14-for-29) from the floor in the second half and were 4-of-10 from downtown and 5-of-8 at the charity stripe. It finished the contest shooting 26-of-67 (39 percent) from the floor and 44 percent (8-for-18) from the charity stripe.

Parks finished with a game-high 16 points leading four Lady Miners in double figures. Meyer dropped in 15 while Kemp and Downs had 12 apiece. Parks set a new career-high with 14 rebounds.

Cruse and Ortiz were the leading scorers for the Pumas with 14 and 13 points respectively.

S&T returns to action on Saturday evening when it travels to Springfield, Mo., to take on Drury University beginning at 5 p.m.