Box Score

(Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners nearly let a 17 point lead slip away but were able to grind out a 74-62 win over Missouri Valley on Sunday to win its fifth straight. S&T closed out its home stand with a perfect 5-0 mark.

Missouri Valley (3-9) took a 5-2 lead two minutes into the contest behind all from Jonica Booth. The Lady Miners (7-2) had some chances early but were just 1-of-5 at the foul line before heating up from the floor.

D'Naya Mims (Chicago, Ill./Harlan Community Academy) gave S&T its first lead of the game at 7-5 on a layup just over four minutes in. The two sides proceeded to exchange baskets for the next eight minutes as the game was tied at 19 with 7:11 left in the first half.

Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) gave the Lady Miners the lead for good hitting a three at the top of the key igniting a 10-2 run. Sample and fellow freshman Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) had all 10 points in the run.

The Vikings closed to within 29-24 on a three by Cassondra Copeland at the 4:31 mark, but S&T answered with eight straight points to build its biggest lead of the half at 37-24. Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) had four in the run while Sample and Taylor Jensen (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) each added a basket.

Missouri Valley cut the deficit to 39-30 on a jumper by Booth with 0:10 left in the half but Jensen raced up the floor and found a wide open Parks who nailed a 15-footer at the buzzer to give the Lady Miners a 41-30 lead at the break.

S&T shot the ball extremely well in the opening half making 57 percent (16-for-28) from the field and were 3-of-7 from behind the arc. The Lady Miners also held a 19-to-12 edge on the glass.

Parks and Knar had eight apiece to lead S&T while Sample dropped in seven.

The Vikings shot 45 percent (14-for-31) from the floor and were 2-of-4 from downtown. Booth had seven to lead MVC while Dana Schoeneman and Rachel Harris had six each.

The two sides traded baskets the first couple of possessions of the second half before S&T appeared to take control of the game with a 6-0 run to build its largest lead of the game at 51-34 on a jumper by Mims with 15:25 to play.

However, the Lady Miners couldn't close the door on Missouri Valley as the Vikings went on an 18-4 run over the next eight minutes to close within 55-52 on a layup by Booth with 7:07 to play.

Mims put S&T back up by six converting an old-fashioned three-point play with less than five to play, but the Vikings still refused to go away cutting the lead in half on Booth's three with just over three minutes to play.

Parks keyed the game deciding 10-0 run putting home a put back off a Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) miss to make it 64-59. Courtney Kemp (Fredricktown, Mo./Fredricktown) went 3-of-4 at the line and Washington had a layup with less than a minute to go to make it 72-59.

The Vikings closed to within 10 on a three by Shateah West before Jensen salted the game away at the line with a pair of free throws with 0:20 left for the final margin.

At one point in the second half the Lady Miners were shooting nearly 60 percent before cooling to 42 percent (13-of-31) from the floor. Mims tallied nine of her 13 points in the second half while Jensen and Kemp had five apiece.

S&T finished the contest shooting 29-of-59 (49.2 percent) from the floor and controlled the glass outrebounding Missouri Valley 41-to-28.

Mims and Parks were the only two S&T players in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Mims also had nine rebounds. Sample finished with nine points and seven boards while Kemp, Meyer and Knar had eight apiece. Meyer also finished the game with six boards and six assists.

The Vikings shot 40 percent in the second half and finished the game at 43 percent (24-of-56) from the floor. Booth and West combined for half of the team's point total.

S&T returns to action next Sunday when it travels to Fort Smith, Ark., to take on Arkansas-Fort Smith beginning at 2 p.m.