Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners got off to a fast start shooting 62.5 percent in the first half but couldn't maintain that pace in the second half falling to 25^th ranked Bellarmine 79-64 on Thursday night in Rolla. Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) led three Lady Miners in double figures with 14 points while Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) added 13 and Raetchel Grady dropped in 12.

S&T (6-13, 2-10 GLVC) trailed by five points midway through the opening stanza but used an 11-3 run to build a three-point lead after a pair of free throws by Gray with 0:30 left in the stanza. Gray and Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) combined to score eight of the 11 points in the run. Bellarmine (16-2, 10-2 GLVC) got a jumper from Ally Mayhaus to cut the deficit to 21-20 at the quarter break.

The Lady Miners extended their lead to seven 3:30 minutes into the second quarter on back-to-back three's from Bland and Gray for S&T's largest lead of the game. The Lady Miners held a 37-31 late in the first half but allowed the Knights to score eight points in the final 1:15 to take a two-point advantage into the locker room.

S&T hit 15 of 24 shots in the first two quarters but turned the ball over 16 times. It outrebounded Bellarmine 14-12 and outscored them 22-18 in the paint. Gray had 11 points to lead the Lady Miners while Pierce had eight and Bland added seven.

The Knights made the same number of field goals as S&T on 10 more shots and went 4-of-9 from downtown. Sarah Galvin led all scorers with 13 points while Raven Merriweather had seven off the bench.

Bellarmine extended its run into the second half outscoring S&T 12-2 in the first three-plus minutes of the third quarter. The Lady Miners cut the lead to 57-48 after a three-pointer by Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) with 3:26 to go in the quarter but wouldn't get any closer the rest of the way.

The Knights hit 4-of-5 three-pointers in the third quarter compared to just 33 percent shooting inside the arc.

In the final stanza S&T went cold from the field making just 3 of 12 shots while Bellarmine shot 57 percent in the final stanza and outscored the Lady Miners 19-14.

S&T finished the game shooting 48 percent (23-for-48) from the field but made only 8-of-24 shots in the second half. It shot 38 percent (3-for-8) from the perimeter and made 15 of 20 at the foul line. The Lady Miners outrebounded the Knights 30-to-27 but couldn't overcome 27 turnovers which resulted in 29 points for Bellarmine.

The Knights finished the game shooting 48 percent (30-for-62) from the field thanks to a second half in which they hit 15 of 28 field goals. They knocked down 9 of 17 attempts from the three-point line and had 17 assists on 30 made field goals. Galvin led four Bellarmine players in double figures with 17 points. Merriweather added 15, Mackenzie Martinez finished with 11 and Whitney Hartlage had 10.

S&T is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Southern Indiana in a 1 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court. The Screaming Eagles dropped their ninth straight game on Thursday at Drury 70-56.

Saturday's game is also Military Appreciation Day at Missouri S&T with all active and retired military members receiving free admission for them and their immediate families with a valid military I.D.