Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners dropped a hard fought battle against Rockhurst 68-65 on Thursday evening at Billy Key Court in Rolla, Mo. S&T (6-10, 1-7 GLVC) had a chance to force overtime on the final possession but Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng )'s three-point attempt at the buzzer was offline.

The Hawks (11-4, 6-2 GLVC) came into Thursday's game shooting 37.4 percent from the three-point line and were averaging 8.5 three-pointers made per game but the Lady Miners held them to just 2-of-17 shooting from three in the contest. S&T had no answer though for Mary Dineen as she went off for 26 in the contest on 10-of-22 shooting and was 5-for-6 at the foul line. She was the lone Hawk in double figures while Jillian Myers and Marissa Lowe had eight points each.

Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) finished with 20 points to lead S&T in scoring while Gray added 13 and Katey Brown (Craig, Neb./Guardian Angels Central Catholic) finished with nine points and seven rebounds. The Lady Miners finished the game shooting 40 percent from the three-point line but were double up at the foul line as Rockhurst made 14 free throws to their seven.

S&T built an early five point advantage knocking three of its first five shots to begin the game but made only 3-of-13 attempts the rest of the quarter. The Hawks took their first lead with 1:50 left in the quarter on a jumper by Dineen which was part of a 9-2 run giving Rockhurst a 15-12 lead at the end of the period.

The Lady Miners tied the game early in the second quarter on a three-pointer by Gray but the Hawks countered with five quick points to regain the lead. S&T battled back to even the game at 26 on an old fashioned three-point play from Arand with 3:21 left in the half. The Hawks regained the lead hitting three of four at the foul line but Arand responded again with a three-pointer to knot the game at 29.

Rockhurst regained the lead on the next possession on a jumper by Morgan Harwood and had a chance to hold for the final shot after a Lady Miner miss. Gray forced a steal and tried to lay it in before the buzzer but missed and Arand was there for the putback sending the teams into the locker room tied at 31.

The Hawks scored first to begin the third quarter but S&T quickly responded on another three from Arand to take its last lead of the night. Rockhurst ran off the next six points to regain its five-point cushion but were unable to put the Lady Miners away. The Hawk lead grew to seven with 3:11 left in the stanza but S&T was able to trim to five by the end of the frame.

Rockhurst extended its lead to as many as nine 3:25 into the final quarter but the Lady Miners continued to scrap their way back into it rattling off eight straight points to cut the deficit to one with less than five minutes to play. Gray and Arand combined for six of the eight points in the run. The Hawks hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to extend their lead to 64-60 before Gray hit a layup bringing S&T back within one possession.

Dineen hit a jumper with 3:09 left making it 66-62 but Elsie Greenwood (Breckenridge, Mo./Penney High School) hit a big three-pointer to make it 66-65 with 1:46 left in the contest. The Lady Miners got a couple of stops on the defensive end but were unable to regain the lead. With Rockhurst leading by one and the clock winding down, Dineen missed a jumper but S&T was unable to get the ball in the scramble and Dineen got the rebound. The Lady Miners were forced to foul Dineen with 2.4 left and she hit both free throws.

S&T took its final timeout to advance the ball into the front court but were unable to send the game into an extra period.

The Lady Miners finished the contest shooting 40 percent (25-of-63) from the floor, were 8-of-20 from the three-point line but shot just 64 percent at the charity stripe. They were outrebounded by the Hawks 44-to-35 and turned the ball over 14 times.
Rockhurst finished the game shooting 41 percent (26-for-64) from the field and converted on 14-of-20 attempts at the line. It outscored S&T 14-6 in points off turnovers and 14-8 in second chance points.

The Lady Miners are back in action on Saturday afternoon taking on William Jewell at 3 p.m.