Rolla, Mo. – Michelle Borgen (Tinley Park, Illinois/Andrew) scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Missouri S&T Lady Miners improved to 2-0 with an 88-80 win over the Purdue Northwest Pride on Saturday evening at Billy Key Court. It marked the second straight game that the Lady Miners had four players reach double figures in scoring.
S&T trailed 5-4 with 7:10 left in the opening quarter before going on a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to build an 18-7 lead.
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) hit a pair of three's off the bench during the run while Borgen,
Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern),
Ashley Harvey (Raytown, Mo./Raytown) and
Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) had two points each. After a three-pointer by Lanie Allen cut the margin to eight, Raley responded with a layup on the other end giving the Lady Miners a 10-point lead at the quarter break.
The Pride (0-2) opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to cut S&T's lead to 22-19 after another three from Allen. The Lady Miners pushed the lead back to six after a jumper by Raley with 3:30 left in the half but PNW continued to hang around ending the half outscoring S&T 14-11 to make it a 41-38 game at halftime.
The Lady Miners shot over 50 percent from the field in the opening half but the Pride were able to stay in the game by hitting eight of nine at the foul line while S&T was just 2-of-3 at the charity stripe. Raley and Bland led the Lady Miners with eight points each in the first 20 minutes.
The first five minutes of the third quarter went back-and-forth with Purdue Northwest eventually taking a 52-51 lead on a jumper by Jessica Kiser just past the midway point of the frame.
Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) hit a three on the ensuing possession sparking an 8-1 run for S&T giving them a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The Pride cut the deficit to 64-61 but the Lady Miners were still able to take a six-point cushion into the final quarter.
S&T pushed its lead to as many as 11 after a layup from Borgen with 2:27 left in the contest but Purdue Northwest refused to go away answering with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 86-80 with only a 1:14 left. That would be the closest it got though as the Lady Miners made a couple of free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
S&T finished the contest shooting 52 percent (34-for-65) from the floor, was 6-for-14 from three and shot 78 percent at the foul line. Joining Borgen in double figures were Raley with 20, matching her career-high, Kabetske had 11 which was a career-high for her and Bland added 10.
Kim Runge (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) also had a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Pride shot only 38 percent (27-for-71) for the contest, were 11-of-34 from three and hit 75 percent of their free throw attempts. Allen led three players in double figures with 23 points while Shae Rhonehouse added 21 and Jessica Kiser finished with 18.
The Lady Miners are back on the court on Tuesday when they travel up Highway 63 to Jefferson City to take on the Lincoln Blue Tigers in a 5:30 p.m. contest.
