By: Luke Rinne, Assistant Sports Information Director
Box Score (Indianapolis, Ind.) – A questionable foul call at the end of regulation proved costly as the Missouri S&T Lady Miners dropped a heartbreaking
74-71 decision to the fifth ranked Greyhounds of Indianapolis on Saturday at Nicoson Hall. S&T trailed by seven with two minutes to play and tied the game in the closing seconds only to lose on three throws in the last second.
The Greyhounds – ranked fifth in NCAA Division II – came out of the gates on fire knocking down 7 of their first nine shots and went 4 for 5 from downtown to build an 18-6 five minutes into the contest. The Lady Miners (8-5, 4-1 GLVC) ran off seven straight points to cut the deficit to five with 11:08 remaining in the half. The 'Hounds (11-1, 4-0 GLVC) answered with a three from Dajana Jovanovic and an old-fashioned three-point from Katy McIntosh to extend the lead back to double digits. S&T rattled off nine straight points behind six from
Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) and a three from
Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) to get within 24-22.
The Lady Miners had their chances to take the lead, but were unable to get over the hump as UIndy pushed its lead back out to seven. S&T had a chance at the end of the first half, but couldn't get a rebound as Kelly Walter hit a three at the buzzer to send the Greyhounds into the break with a 36-28 lead.
The Lady Miners shot 35 percent (10-for-29) from the field, 2-of-5 from three and went 6-for-6 at the foul line. Sample and
Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) had eight points apiece to lead S&T. The Lady Miners outrebounded UIndy 21-18 in the frame.
The Greyhounds shot 42 percent (13-of-31) from the floor, 6-for-14 from downtown and 4-of-8 at the foul line. Kristin Turner had 10 points to lead all scorers while McIntosh and Walter had eight apiece.
S&T opened the second half strong scoring 11 of the first 15 points and were able to trim the Indianapolis lead to 40-39. The 'Hounds continued to hold off the Lady Miners charge until Parks tied it on a jumper in the lane at 47-47 with 9:32 left. UIndy regained the lead on the next possession when Eliza Wortman hit a 15-foot jumper from the corner. Parks tied it again though with two more free throws.
Shelby Wall and Knar got into a 3-point shooting contest as they traded three's with each other to keep UIndy head 55-52 with 7:35 to play. The lead would grow to six, but S&T rattled off five straight points to close within 58-57 on a layup from Knar with 5:03 left.
The 'Hounds rattled off six straight points to push the lead back to seven and still lead by that margin with 2:19 to play. The Lady Miners to their credit scored eight of the next nine including four straight in a span of 0:10 to tie the game.
Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) hit a jumper and then after a steal by
Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La./), Parks was fouled on a drive to the basket with 5.3 seconds left. She hit both free throws to tie the game.
McIntosh raced the ball up the floor for the 'Hounds and threw up an off-balanced three at the buzzer that was no good, but McLeod was whistled for a questionable foul and McIntosh hit all three throws to give the Greyhounds the win.
S&T shot 57 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 46 percent (26-for-57) from the floor. It was 5-of-14 from three and 14-for-16 at the foul line. Parks finished with 25 points while Knar dropped in 11.
The Greyhounds shot 44 percent in the second and finished the game at 43 percent shooting (23-for-54) from the field. They were 8-of-20 from three and 20-for-27 at the foul line. McIntosh led three 'Hound players in double figures with 25 points. Turner dropped in 16 while Walter added 12 more.
The Lady Miners return home next Thursday to take on Quincy University beginning at 5:30 p.m.