RENSSELAER, Ind. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners held a 52-47 lead with seven minutes remaining before enduring 5:30 minute scoreless stretch allowing Saint Joseph's to end the game on a 13-3 run sending the Lady Miners to a 60-55 defeat on Friday. S&T led for nearly 35 minutes in the contest, but were unable to make enough plays down the stretch.

The Lady Miners (4-6, 0-2 GLVC) started off the game strong opening a double digit lead in the first seven-plus minutes of the game. They took advantage of their size inside with 12 of their first 16 points coming from Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) and Leigh-Ann Kesper (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville).

Saint Joseph's (4-7, 1-1 GLVC) cut the margin to single digits a couple of times, but each time S&T was able to extend its back out and eventually built a 27-13 lead on a jumper from Douvier with just over five minutes left in the opening 20 minutes.

The Pumas hit back-to-back three's trimming the margin to eight, but the Lady Miners answered with four straight points to push the lead back to double digits with less than three minutes to go in the half. S&T struggled to close out the stanza as Saint Joseph's scored eight of the last 10 points cutting the Lady Miner lead to 33-27 at the break.

S&T shot 48 percent (12-for-25) from the field and forced the Pumas to turn it over 11 times resulting in nine points of those turnovers. Douvier led all scorers with 10 points in the stanza while Brittany Andersen (Saint John, Ind./Andrean ) added seven more.

Saint Joseph's shot only 33 percent in the first 20 minutes, but made 5-of-11 from beyond the arc to stay within striking distance. Kalea Parks led the Pumas with eight points while Kiki Wilson dropped in six.

The Lady Miners held Saint Joseph's at arm's length for the first 10 minutes of the second half holding a 44-43 lead before the Pumas took their first lead since early in the contest on a pair of free throws. The two sides traded buckets as Saint Joseph's held a 47-46 lead with 8:46 to go before S&T countered with six straight points.

Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) hit a three to put the Lady Miners back in front and then a minute later Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) drove in from the wing hit a layup and was fouled for the three-point play. Those would be the last points S&T scored until a free throw by Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99) with 1:27 left.

The Lady Miners had several chances to extend their lead but had five straight empty possessions and continued to let the Pumas hang around. Wilson scored five straight points to tie the game and then Abbey Titzer hit two free throws with 1:44 to go to give Saint Joseph's a two-point advantage.

Pagrode had a chance to tie the game, but made only 1-of-2 at the line and on the ensuing possession Courtney Kvachkoff hit jumper at the free throw line pushing the lead to three points. Kimberly Runge (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) tried to answer on the other end, but her shot was blocked by Parks and Parks got the rebound. On the next possession Lauren Davis was fouled on a drive to the basket hitting both free throws to make it 58-53 with 0:26 remaining.

Kesper brought S&T back to within 58-55 on a putback with 0:13 left. Forced to foul the Lady Miners fouled Kvachkoff and she hit both free throws to seal the game with 0:08 to play.

S&T shot only 35 percent from the floor in the second half and turned it over 15 times resulting in 13 points for the Pumas. The Lady Miners finished the game connecting on 20-of-48 (42 percent) from the field, but went just 4-for-12 from beyond the arc and made 73 percent of their free throws.

Douvier led S&T with 12 points while Kesper dropped in eight. Andersen and Demetria Snaden (Evansville, Ind./Evansville North) added seven points apiece. Kesper finished the game with seven rebounds.

Saint Joseph's shot only 32 percent from the field for the game, but had an eight-point advantage at the foul line in the second half. Kvachkoff led all scorers with 18 points, 15 in the second half, to lead all scorers. Parks added 12 while Wilson finished with 11.

The Lady Miners are back in action on Sunday afternoon taking on the Greyhounds of Indianapolis in a 12 p.m. (Central Time) start from Indianapolis.