Rolla, Mo. - The Missouri S&T Lady Miners trailed by only four at halftime but had a disastrous third quarter in a 72-48 loss in its home finale on Thursday night at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. The Lady Miners (8-15, 4-12 GLVC) were outscored by 17 in that fateful frame.

S&T opened the game hitting its first two shots from the floor but missed its next 11 shots from the floor. Thankfully for them the Tritons (10-14, 5-11 GLVC) weren't much better making only two of their first 11 shots from the field. Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) gave the Lady Miners an 8-7 lead hitting 1-of-2 at the foul line with 0:35 left in the opening quarter. It appeared S&T would head into the quarter break with a lead but Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99) was called for a foul late in the frame and Shea O'Brien made both free throws to give UMSL the one-point lead at the break.

Neither side scored for the first 4:30 minutes of the second quarter until Bland hit 1-of-2 at the line to tie the game. On the ensuing possession Jordan Boyce hit a three-pointer which sparked a 7-0 run over the next 2:30 minutes. Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng ) kept the Lady Miners in the game scoring four of their next five points to cut the deficit to two. The Tritons would take a four-point lead into the break on a layup by O'Brien with 0:11 left in the half.

S&T shot only 21 percent (6-for-28) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. It was 0-of-2 from three and 4-for-7 from the foul line. The Lady Miners outrebounded the Tritons 25-21. Gray had six points while Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) added five. Sandra Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half.

UMSL made just 26 percent (8-of-31) of its shots in the half and was 2-for-9 from downtown. O'Brien led all scorers with eight points while Sydney Skaggs chipped in with four.

The Tritons stormed out of the locker room scoring the first nine points of the third quarter to extend their lead to 13 just 2:18 into the second half. S&T cut the deficit to 11 a couple of times before UMSL hit them with a 12-2 run to extend the lead to 43-21 with 4:20 left in the stanza. The Lady Miners cut the deficit to under 20 with 0:07 after two free throws from Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99), but an O'Brien three-pointer from the right corner right before the buzzer gave the Tritons a 51-30 advantage heading into the final period.

UMSL shot 71 percent in the third quarter and buried four three-pointers in the stanza. O'Brien and Boyce combined to score 17 of the Tritons 31 points in the frame.

S&T shot the ball better in the final stanza knocking down 43 percent of its attempts but couldn't slow down the UMSL attack as the two traded buckets for most of the final 10 minutes. The Lady Miners got as close as 16 with 3:55 to play after a bucket from Bland, but the Tritons put the game away with an 8-0 run and cruised to the 24-point win.

S&T shot only 29 percent (16-for-56) from the field for the contest, made only 2-of-10 attempts from beyond the arc and shot 61 percent (14-for-23) at the foul line. Gray led the way with 13 points while Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) chipped in with 11. S. Douvier pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds.

UMSL finished the game making 42 percent (25-of-59) of its shots from the field, went 8-for-18 from the perimeter but shot only 67 percent at the foul line. The Tritons outrebounded S&T 43-36 for the game. O'Brien led all scorers with 22 points while Boyce had 11 and Amber Daly finished with 10.

The Lady Miners are back in action on Saturday afternoon taking on the Maryville Saints at 1 p.m. in St. Louis.