Springfield, Ill. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners bounced back from a disappointing loss on Thursday with a convincing 64-43 win at Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon. S&T (8-14, 4-11 GLVC) scored 10 of the first 12 points of a game it led wire-to-wire and shot 70 percent in the opening quarter.

Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) was unstoppable in the opening 10 minutes scoring 10 points, seven in the first four minutes, as the Lady Miners built an early 10-2 lead. That lead eventually grew to 19-6 on Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia)'s second three-pointer of the stanza, but the Prairie Stars (8-15, 2-13 GLVC) closed the gap to nine after a free throw by Morgan Knorr with 1:08 left in the quarter. Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) gave S&T its double digit lead back converting an old fashioned three-point play for 22-10 lead at the break.

The Lady Miners stretched their lead to 15 points three minutes into the second quarter but the Stars countered with 10 straight over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to 27-22 at the midway point of the quarter. Neither side scored for the next two minutes until Elsie Greenwood (Breckenridge, Mo./Penney High School) hit a jumper and then Arand hit her third triple of the half to push the lead back to double figures. Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) added a layup with 1:30 left and Arand hit a jumper right before the buzzer to send S&T into the locker room with a 36-22 lead.

The Lady Miners shot 42 percent (13-for-23) from the field in the first half, 3-of-7 from downtown and shot 78 percent at the foul line. They turned the ball over just five times in the first half and outscored UIS 12-to-8 in points in the paint. Arand led all scorers with 13 points while Pierce added 10.

UIS made just 9-of-34 shots from the floor (26.4 percent), went 2-for-12 from beyond the arc and was 2-of-4 at the foul line. The Stars outrebounded S&T 20-to-17, 11-2 on the offensive end, and had five second chance points. Shelbi Patterson had seven points for UIS while Meredith Marti dropped in five.

The Lady Miner extend their lead to 16 points early in the third quarter behind five points from Douvier to start the frame. The Prairie Stars closed the margin to 42-29 after a jumper from Knorr with 5:07 left in the stanza. S&T scored five of the next six points to push the lead to 17 after a three-point play from Bland. The Lady Miners went into the final frame with a 50-34 advantage.

UIS cut the lead to 50-39 with five straight points to open the final quarter but a 12-2 run by S&T spanning seven minutes sealed the win as it built a 21-point lead after a layup by Kimberly Runge (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) with 1:22 left in the game. Pierce scored seven of her nine second half points in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Miners shot 41 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game making 22-of-45 shots (49 percent) from the floor. They were just 1-of-6 from three in the second half but did finish the game shooting 73 percent at the foul line. Pierce had a game-high 19 to lead three players in double figures. Arand finished with 13 while Douvier added 11. Bland had eight rebounds in the contest while Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng ) had six assists.

The Prairie Stars were held to 23 percent shooting (15-for-64) from the floor, made only 3-of-22 attempts from three (14 percent) and made only 63 percent of their free throws. They outrebounded S&T 40-to-38 and held a 14-1 edge in second chance points. Syerra Cunningham was the only Stars player in double figures with 10 points while Marti dropped home nine.

The Lady Miners play their final home game of the 2015-16 regular season this coming Thursday night hosting Missouri-St. Louis at Billy Key Court at 5:30 p.m. S&T will honor its lone senior, Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99), between games of the doubleheader.