Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners held a 14-point lead heading into the final quarter but couldn't hold onto it falling to Missouri-St. Louis 68-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. The Lady Miners (5-3, 1-1 GLVC) shot 75 percent in the third quarter but went cold in the fourth quarter shooting only 21 percent as the Tritons (4-3, 1-1 GLVC) outscored them by 17 points.

The game started slowly with both teams struggling to score early before S&T grabbed a 10-6 lead with 1:06 left in the opening frame. UMSL grabbed the lead at the end of the quarter thanks to five straight points by Robneisha Lee to make it 11-10 at the quarter break.

The Tritons scored the first four points of the second quarter to take its biggest lead of the contest 1:04 into the stanza. The Lady Miners scored eight of the next 10 points to regain the lead on a jumper by Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) with 6:40 left in the quarter but UMSL countered with six straight of its own to regain its five point cushion.

S&T countered that run with a 6-0 surge of its own regaining a 24-23 on a pair of free throws from Elsie Greenwood (Breckenridge, Mo./Penney High School) with 2:45 left in the half. The Tritons held a two-point lead with less than a minute to go in the frame when Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Lady Miners the lead back and then Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng ) hit a layup to put S&T up 29-26 at the half.

The Lady Miners shot 41 percent from the floor in the first half and outrebounded UMSL 17-13. Douvier and Greenwood led S&T with seven points each.

The Tritons shot just a little bit better connecting on 44 percent off its attempts. Lee led all scorers with 12 points at the break.

The Lady Miners opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run extending their lead to 40-26 less than three minutes in. S&T knocked down its first eight shots of the quarter and led by as many as 17 points after a jumper by Kim Runge (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) with 4:08 to go in the stanza. UMSL cut the margin to 13 after a three-point play by Jordan Fletcher with 1:31 to go before Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) knocked down a three-pointer to make it 55-39. Shelby Dahl answered on the next possession to bring the Tritons within 14 at the end of the quarter.

UMSL began the fourth quarter on an 18-1 run to take its first lead since late in the second quarter and were up 59-56 with 3:17 to play. Fletcher scored seven of the points in that run. Katey Brown (Craig, Neb./Guardian Angels Central Catholic) brought S&T level hitting a three from the right corner with less than three minutes to go. The Lady Miners had a chance to regain the lead on their next possession but missed a jumper and the Tritons got the rebound. Dahl got free in transition and knocked down a three from the left wing to give UMSL the lead back at 62-59 with 2:12 remaining.

Gray had a chance to tie the game on the ensuing possession but her three-pointer rattled out and UMSL got the rebound. Dahl put the Tritons up four hitting 1-of-2 at the foul line with 0:41 left and then Sandra Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) hit a jumper with 0:21 to make it 63-61. Forced to foul the Lady Miners fouled Robneisha Lee who hit both foul shots to make it 65-61 with 0:20 left.

Aricca Daye (Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines East) brought S&T back to within a bucket hitting a jumper with 0:13 but once again was forced to foul and Laura Szorenyi hit both to make it a four point game again. Gray came down on the ensuing possession and was fouled with 5.5 to play and hit both free throws closing the gap to 67-65. Szorenyi was fouled again but only hit 1-of-2 at the line to give the Lady Miners the chance to tie. Daye got a three off from the top of the key that glanced off the front of the rim at the buzzer to end the game.

S&T finished the game shooting 43 percent (24-for-55) from the floor, was 5-of-13 from the three-point line and shot 86 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded the Tritons 29-25 and got 27 points from the bench. J. Douvier led the way with 10 points while Gray added nine. Daye and S. Douvier added eight points each. Runge led the way with 10 rebounds.

UMSL finished the contest shooting 50 percent (23-for-46) from the field, hit 3-of-13 attempts from downtown and hit 70 percent of its free throw attempts. Lee led all scorers with 18 points. Szorenyi added 17, Fletcher finished with 12 and Dahl dropped in 11. The Tritons outscored the Lady Miners 41-29 in the paint.

S&T continues its four game homestand to close out the first semester next Wednesday, Dec. 7 against Westminster at 7:30 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.