Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners shot 53 percent from the field and made a season-high nine three-pointers to hold off Southern Indiana for a 76-69 win at Billy Key Court on Saturday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for S&T (7-13, 3-10 GLVC) who got a career-high 24 points from Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng ) in the victory.

The Lady Miners got off to a slow start falling behind 6-0 to begin the game and missed their first four shots of the contest. Gray got the team going scoring five straight points as S&T made seven straight shots from the field during a 17-2 run allowing them to take a nine-point lead with less than three minutes to go in the opening quarter.

The Screaming Eagles (10-11, 3-10 GLVC) countered scoring the final seven points of the stanza to pull within 19-17 at the quarter break.

The two sides traded baskets for the first four minutes of the second quarter and were tied at 23-23 after a layup by Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled). After a bucket by Southern Indiana put them in front 25-23 the Lady Miners rattled off eight straight to build a six-point lead with 1:57 left in the opening half.

The Screaming Eagles fought back with five in a row to cut the deficit to one but Linda Pagrode (Jaunolaine, Latvia/Riga 99) hit a layup just before the end of the half to put S&T ahead 33-30 at the break.

Both teams shot 48.1 percent in the opening half but the difference was USI was 1-for-11 from downtown while the Lady Miners hit 3-of-7 from the perimeter. The Eagles outrebounded S&T 17-12 in the first 20 minutes but turned the ball over eight times to just six for the Lady Miners.

Gray led S&T with 12 points in the first two quarters while Sandra Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) added six off the bench and Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) had five.

Wascher led USI with 12 first half points while Kaydie Grooms dropped home seven.

The Eagles cut the Lady Miner lead to just two with 5:47 left in the third quarter and appeared to have some momentum but it shifted quickly as Bland and Gray hit back-to-back three's to extend the lead to eight and forced USI to call a timeout.

The Screaming Eagles cut the margin to five late in the quarter but Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) and Bland each hit layups in the final minute to give S&T a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The lead grew to 10-points just a minute into the final stanza as Arand hit a three to answer a layup from Grooms giving the Lady Miners their biggest lead of the game.

USI had another run in them scoring nine of the next 11 points to cut the margin to 62-59 with 4:58 left in the game. On the ensuing possession Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead back to six and then after Wascher missed two free throws Gray hit her fourth three of the game to push the margin back to nine.

The Eagles cut the deficit to seven but Arand buried a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 10 with 1:38 left and S&T hit three of its last four at the foul line to seal the win.

The Lady Miners shot 57 percent (15-for-26) from the field in the second half including 75 percent in the final quarter to hold off USI. Gray led three S&T players in double figures while Arand scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and Pierce finished with 10. Gray and Arand combined to score 28 of the Lady Miners 43 points in the second half.

The Screaming Eagles outrebounded S&T 39-25 but were just 2-of-22 from downtown and missed seven of 12 at the foul line. They finished the game shooting 47 percent (31-for-66) from the floor. Wascher matched Gray with 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead USI while Grooms had 17 and Tanner Marcum ended up with 10.

The Lady Miners are back in action next Thursday traveling to Lebanon, Ill., to take on the McKendree University Bearcats in a 5:30 p.m. contest. The Bearcats dropped a 60-47 decision at Maryville on Saturday afternoon.