Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners were its own worst enemy on Saturday turning the ball over a season-high 27 times in a 68-64 overtime loss at home to the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis. The Tritons outscored the Lady Miners 34-13 in points off turnovers.

S&T (12-9, 8-5 GLVC) led 56-47 after a jumper by Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) with less than five minutes to play in the contest. From that point the Lady Miners would be held scoreless until the closing seconds as the Tritons (12-9, 7-6 GLVC) rattled off 10 straight points and took the lead on a putback by Kelly Kunkel with 0:45 left in regulation. Knar tried to give S&T the lead but her 3-point attempt stayed out and Carissa Richardson (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) got the offensive rebound, but her putback attempt was blocked by Kunkel.

Forced to foul, the Lady Miners fouled Kelly McGovern with 0:14 left and she hit 1 of 2 at the foul line to make it 58-56. Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) raced down floor and was fouled with 5.8 seconds left on her attempt to tie the game. She stepped up to the line and made both free throws to tie the game.
UMSL had a chance to win the game as Angela Johnson raced down the court, but she turned it over on a double-dribble with one-tenth of a second left.

In the extra frame, S&T took the lead on a basket by Richardson a minute into the period, but the Tritons countered with five straight points getting two free throws by Devonna Smith and a 3-pointer from Jessica Zavoral to take a 63-60 lead with less than three minutes to go.

The Lady Miners answered on the other end as Richardson scored again to make it a one point game with 2:20 to play. After UMSL missed a pair of free throws with 1:59 left, McLeod gave S&T the lead back driving through the defense and making a layup to make it 64-63 with 1:44 to go. The lead was short lived though as McGovern got her defender going one way and no one stepped up to stop her as she hit a layup on the next possession.

McLeod drove the defense again, but this time she couldn't hang onto the ball as the Tritons recovered and capitalized when Smith knocked down a 15-foot jumper to make it 67-64 with 0:48 to play. Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) had a great look at a 3-pointer with 0:28 left, but it wouldn't go down and Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) came away with the rebound. Her putback attempt was no good as Smith got the rebound.

Heil fouled Smith who went to the line and made 1 of 2 to make it a four-point game. McLeod tried to cut the lead to one but her attempt from three was off the mark and S&T got the rebound, but turned it over.

The Lady Miners finished the game shooting 45 percent (26 for 58) from the field, was 3 of 9 from three and 9 for 13 at the foul line. S&T outrebounded the Tritons 38-34 for the game. Parks led the way with 16 points while McLeod and Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) dropped in nine points apiece. Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) added eight points as well.

UMSL shot 41.2 percent (21 of 51) from the floor, 3 for 8 from downtown and was 23 of 35 at the foul line. Smith and Zavoral combined for 37 points in the contest.

The Lady Miners are back in action next Thursday when they head to Springfield, Ill., to take on the Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars beginning at 5:30 p.m.