Box Score (Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners made a valiant effort in nearly overcoming a 17-point second half deficit, but ended up falling short in its 51-48 loss to Maryville on Thursday evening in Rolla.

Both teams were cold to start the game as the Lady Miners (6-10, 2-6 GLVC) started the game just 3-for-11 from the floor while the Saints (10-7, 3-4 GLVC) were only 3-of-10 from the field. S&T held a 10-7 lead after a three-pointer by Mia Wesley (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) with 11:16 to go in the opening frame, but Maryville answered with a 16-2 run over the next eight minutes to build an 11-point lead with 4:19 to go in the stanza. The Lady Miners cut the lead to nine on a basket by Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) before the Saints rattled off another seven straight to build a 30-14 advantage at the 3:00 mark. S&T scored four of the final six points of the half to cut the Maryville lead to 32-18 at the break.

The Lady Miners were just 8-for-31 (26 percent) from the field, 40 percent from three and didn't attempt a free throw in the opening frame. They turned it over 10 times and were outrebounded 24-to-19. Wesley had five off the bench to lead S&T while Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) added four.

Maryville warmed up after its cool start to finish the half shooting 38 percent (12-of-32) from the field, was 2-for-9 from three and went 6-of-7 at the charity stripe. The Saints outscored the Lady Miners 20-2 in the paint and were led in scoring by Alex Hillyer with 12 points and Shelby Miller added seven.

S&T opened the second half by scoring seven of the first 10 points to trim the Saint lead to 12 by the 14:10 mark. Miller and Hillyer then scored the next five points to give Maryville its biggest lead of the night at 42-25 with 12:33 to play.

Jaaron Kassanavoid (Lawson, Mo./Lawson) ignited the Lady Miners hitting a three-pointer keying a 15-0 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes as S&T closed the deficit to 42-40 with 8:11 to play. Hillyer hit four free throws to end the Saints five minute scoring drought and push the lead back out to six. The Lady Miners had an opportunity to cut into the deficit but Wesley and Kassanavoid missed four straight free throws.

S&T refused to go away though as Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) hit a jumper in the paint and Cooper added two free throws to make it a one possession game with 3:20 left. Miller hit 1-of-2 at the line to extend the Maryville lead to 49-46 with 2:41 remaining, but the Lady Miners then cut it to one on a basket by Cooper with less than a minute later. Jordynn Martin answered with basket to break the press on the ensuing possession to bring the margin back to three.

S&T had four chances to tie the game in the final 1:13, but were unable to do so missing three three's and had a turnover with 0:15 to play. The Saints couldn't close it as they missed four free throws in the final 0:22 to keep the Lady Miners alive. The last two misses came with 0:08 left as Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) got the rebound and ahead to Knar for one final shot, but it was off the mark and Thompson got the rebound to end the game.

S&T finished the game shooting 31.7 percent (19-for-60), 3-of-15 from three and 7-for-13 at the foul line. They did shoot 38 percent in the second half though. Wesley was the lone Lady Miner in double figures with 16 points while Sample had nine rebounds. The 51 points allowed were a season low for S&T.

Maryville finished the game going 17-of-56 (30.4 percent) from the field, but shot just 21 percent (5-for-24) in the second half. It was 4-of-20 from three and 13-for-19 at the foul line. Hillyer led all scorers with 18 points and was 12-of-13 at the foul line. Miller finished with a double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Saints outrebounded the Lady Miners by a 46-to-38 margin.

S&T concludes its four-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts Missouri-St. Louis beginning at 1 p.m.