Box Score (Springfield, Ill.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners outscored Illinois Springfield 22-6 over the final 10:15 erasing a 14 point first half deficit to win 63-57 on Thursday in Springfield, Ill. S&T outscored the Prairie Stars by 16 in the second half and clinched a spot in the GLVC Tournament thanks to Rockhurst's loss at Maryville.

The Lady Miners (13-9, 9-5 GLVC) scored the first points of the game as Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) scored off a pass from Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) 1:20 into the contest. UIS (5-17, 2-12 GLVC) answered on the other end as Elizabeth Kelly buried a jumper. Turnovers began to rear its ugly head again for S&T as it turned it over five straight possessions and the Prairie Stars took advantage scoring 11 straight points behind two 3-pointers from Meredith Marti and five points from Megan Bergerud.

The Lady Miners settled down cutting the lead to 17-13 on a jumper by Taylor Jensen (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) with 10:25 left in the opening half. UIS led 24-19 when Alyssa Palmer took control scoring nine straight points to push the lead to 33-19 with less than four minutes to play in the stanza.

S&T cut the lead to 10 at the break getting a basket from Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) and pair of free throws from Heil. Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) had a chance to cut the lead to single digits before the break, but her jumper wouldn't stick.

The Lady Miners shot a respectable 45.5 percent (10 for 22) in the opening half, but were 1 of 3 from downtown and 2 for 2 at the charity stripe. Parks led the way with six points while Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La./) and Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) dropped home four each. S&T was outrebounded 14-9 in the opening frame.

The Prairie Stars were just a little bit better from the field making 12 of 23 shots (52 percent), shot 50 percent from three (4 for 8) and was 5 of 5 at the line. Palmer led all scorers with 11 points while Marti dropped in nine.

The Lady Miners scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half to extend their run to 14-2 and cut the margin to 35-33 after a jumper by Jensen with 14:29 to play in the contest. Megan Bergerud answered on the other end hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to push the margin back to eight points.

S&T again closed the margin to 43-39 after a jumper by Sample, but UIS countered scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 51-41 lead. The Lady Miners counterpunched with a run of their own scoring 11 of the next 13 points to close within 53-52 on a free throw by Cooper with less than four minutes to play.

Mallory Beck answered on the other end with a layup to push the margin back to three, but Parks countered on the other end with a layup to make it 55-54 with 3:21 remaining.

S&T got a stop on the defensive end and Cooper gave them its first lead since the first basket of the game with a jumper off a feed from Hall with under three minutes to go. The lead would be short lived; however, as Bergerud answered on the other end to put the Prairie Stars back on top by one.

From that point the Lady Miners held UIS scoreless ending the game scoring seven straight. Heil made four free throws down the stretch and Jensen added a big jumper before Parks sealed the deal with a free throw in the closing seconds.

S&T shot 48 percent (14 for 29) in the second half and finished the game making 24 of 51 shots (47 percent). It was 3 for 8 from downtown and 12 of 16 at the foul line. Parks led the way with 16 points while Cooper dropped home 12 and Jensen added eight. Heil, Sample and Knar each added six apiece. The Lady Miners outrebounded UIS 24-10 in the second half and turned it over only three times after the break.

The Prairie Stars shot only 33 percent (8 for 24) from the field in the second half, but were 4 of 9 from downtown. They finished the game shooting 43 percent (20 for 47), went 8 of 17 (47 percent) from three and 9 for 11 (82 percent) at the foul line. Bergerud led the way with 16 points while Palmer dropped in 13, but had just two in the second half.

S&T is back in action on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Quincy, Ill., to take on the Hawks of Quincy University beginning at 1 p.m.