Box Score (Kansas City, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners struggled to shoot the ball all night long and it cost them in a 65-60 loss at Rockhurst on Thursday evening at the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse in Kansas City, Mo. S&T matched its season low with 17 field goals made in the contest.

The Lady Miners (9-15, 5-11 GLVC) led for a majority of the first half, but were unable to shake the Hawks (8-16, 3-13 GLVC). S&T built a six-point lead with 5:06 left in the half only to watch Rockhurst storm back with seven straight points to take a 22-21 lead on a steal and score by Taylor Skala  with 3:26 to play.

Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) put the Lady Miners back in front hitting 3-of-4 at the foul line as they closed the half scoring 9 of the last 11 points to take a 30-25 lead into the break. S&T's final 12 points of the stanza came at the charity stripe as it went the final 8:06 without a field goal.

The Lady Miners were just 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from the floor, made only one three-pointer in eight tries but was 17-for-20 at the foul line. Sample led all scorers with 13 points to go along with seven rebounds in the half. Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) and Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) chipped in with six and five points respectively.

The Hawks didn't shoot much better making only 29 percent (9-of-31) of their shots from the floor and were 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. They did go 7-of-9 at the foul line and outscored S&T in the paint 10-4. Skala led Rockhurst with seven points while Becky Squiers and Lauren Meyers added four each.

The Lady Miners opened the second half scoring 10 of the first 15 points to extend its halftime lead to 40-30 on a jumper by McLeod with 15:16 to play. The Hawks then took control over the next five minutes with a 13-0 run to take a 43-40 lead on a pair of free throws by Becca Strobbe.
Sample kept S&T in the game scoring six straight and 11 of the next 14 points as it trailed 57-54 with 1:38 left in the game. Meyers put Rockhurst in front by six with a three-pointer that she banked high off the glass with 1:12 remaining.

After a Lady Miner turnover, Susan Hohenadel missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) got the rebound. McLeod then hit a three from the top of the key to pull S&T to within 60-57 with 0:32 left. Forced to foul the Lady Miners sent Kendall Hart to the line and she missed the front end of 1-and-1 too.

Sample got the rebound and pushed it ahead to Knar, who had a look to tie the game, but her three-pointer hit off the back rim and Hart secured the rebound. She was fouled by Cooper and made both free throws with 0:16 left to put Rockhurst up by five.

On the ensuing possession McLeod drove the lane, but left her layup attempt short and Haleigh Cindrich got the rebound and was fouled with 0:09 remaining. She hit both free throws to put the Hawks in front 64-57. Knar cut it to four with a three-pointer from the left wing, however; it was too late as Hohenadel hit 1-of-2 at the line to ice the game.

S&T was just 11-for-28 (39.3 percent) from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 34.7 percent (17-of-49) from the floor. It was 5-for-16 from three and made 78 percent (21-for-27) from the foul line. It outrebounded Rockhurst 41-to-33, but turned it over 22 times resulting in 17 points for the Hawks. Sample led all scorers with 26 points and made a career best 10 free throws. She also had 12 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season. McLeod and Knar added 11 points each.

Rockhurst shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the game making 21-for-54 (39 percent) of its attempts. After going 0-for-10 in the first half from beyond the arc it was 4-of-6 in the second 20 minutes. The Hawks shot 76 percent (19-for-25) from the foul line and their bench outscored the Lady Miners 28-4. Meyers scored 15 of her team-high 19 points in the second half. She was 6-for-6 from the field and made all three of her attempts from beyond the arc. Skala added nine points while Hart dropped home eight.

S&T is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Liberty, Mo., for a 1 p.m. game against the Cardinals of William Jewell College.