ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners closed out its four-game homestand on a high note with an 82-70 win over Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. S&T overcame a nine point first half deficit to secure its first back-to-back wins since November.

The Lady Miners (6-15, 2-11 GLVC) got a three-pointer from Brittany Andersen (Saint John, Ind./Andrean ) 0:15 into the game to break on top early. The Prairie Stars (5-16, 1-12 GLVC)then got hot from the perimeter hitting three straight three's as part of an 11-2 run to take an 11-5 lead three minutes into the game.

S&T cut the deficit to one possession two different times but each time they did UIS would make a little run to extend the margin back out.

The Lady Miners trailed 24-17 with more than nine minutes to play in the opening half when they went on a 10-0 run which spanned over three minutes and regained the lead on a jumper by Leigh-Ann Kesper (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville). After a layup by Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) made it a three-point contest, the Prairie Stars countered with 12 start of their own to take its largest lead of the game at 36-27 with less than three minutes to play in the half.

S&T closed the deficit to four on another jumper by Arand, but UIS went into the locker room with a 40-34 lead on a jumper by Courtney Knuckles with 0:56 to play in the stanza.

The Lady Miners shot the ball well in the opening frame knocking down 48 percent of their shots and were even better from the perimeter shooting 57 percent. The difference was at the foul line where S&T was just 2-for-5 while Illinois Springfield was 11-of-13. Arand and Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) had nine points each to lead the Lady Miners while Andersen added six.

The Prairie Stars shot it well themselves making 44.4 percent and were 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. They outrebounded S&T 23-11 and had an 18-13 edge in points off the bench. Jameeshia Armstrong had nine points to lead the Stars while Cassie Wolfe, Caroline Kelty and Syerra Cunningham had eight points apiece.

UIS struck first to open the second half and extended its lead to eight points before the Lady Miners went on a 10-2 run  to even it back up after Andersen converted on an old-fashioned three-point play.

The Prairie Stars pushed the lead to four points before S&T went on another run to take the lead for good. Elsie Greenwood (Breckenridge, Mo./Penney High School) had four points in that game deciding run while Arand had three and Andersen chipped in with two.

The Lady Miners eventually pushed their lead to seven points only to see Illinois Springfield close to within a bucket twice in the final two minutes. S&T continued to cling to that lead with 1:02 left when Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99) hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to four points.

The Lady Miners were then able to ice the game at the foul line hitting eight more in the final minute to preserve the win.

S&T had five players finish in double figures led by Andersen and Bland with 17 points each. Greenwood added 14, Arand had 12 and Kesper finished with 10. The 17 points for Bland is a career-high and she also made a career best eight field goals.

As a team, the Lady Miners finished the game shooting 51 percent (31-for-61) from the floor, connected on 7 of their 16 attempts from beyond the arc and were 13-for-20 at the foul line. They forced UIS into 21 turnovers and scored 24 points off those turnovers.

The Prairie Stars were led in scoring by Armstrong with 16 while Wolfe had 12 and Knuckles finished with 11. UIS finished the game shooting 43 percent (23-for-54) from the field, was 6-of-15 from the perimeter and shot 72 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded S&T 37-31 and had an 11-10 edge in second chance points.

The Lady Miners head back out on the road next weekend traveling to Somers, Wis., for a match-up against Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m.