Springfield, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball struggled to handle Arkansas-Fort Smith's defensive pressure in a 91-62 loss on Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo. S&T turned the ball over 28 times resulting in 41 points for UAFS.

The Lady Miners (4-2) held a 3-2 lead less than a minute into the game as Michelle Borgen (Tinley Park, Illinois/Andrew) hit a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock expired. The Lady Lions (4-3) responded with seven straight to regain the lead before Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) silenced the run with a jumper. UAFS stretched its lead to 10 points late in the quarter but S&T was able to trim it to seven after a pair of free throws from Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) with 0:31 left in the quarter. The Lady Lions held a 10-point lead at the quarter break on a three-pointer by Olivia Hanson right before the buzzer.

That three sparked Fort Smith as it opened the second stanza on a 12-1 run to stretch its lead to as many as 21 points in the first half. The Lady Miners cut the deficit to 37-25 thanks to a 9-0 run highlighted by five points from Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern). The Lady Lions countered back ending the quarter by scoring 10 of the final 16 points to take a 47-31 lead into the locker room.

S&T shot 46 percent (10-for-22) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes but committed 15 turnovers resulting in 22 points for UAFS. Raley had 11 to lead the Lady Miners while Arand added 10. Borgen and Kabetske had five and four points respectively.

The Lady Lions were 18-of-34 (53 percent) shooting in the half, they shot 50 percent from three and 83 percent at the foul line. Their bench outscored S&T's 16-1 in the first two quarters. Hanson and Lundon Williams had 11 and 10 points respectively.

Arkansas-Fort Smith shot 61 percent from the floor in the third quarter to double up S&T 26-13 and extend its halftime lead to 29 points by the end of the stanza. Alexsis Brown and Tamera Gulley paced the Lady Lions with 18 points in the quarter.

S&T struggled to get its offense going in the second half as it was held to 36 percent shooting from the floor. The Lady Miners also struggled at the foul line in the final 20 minutes shooting just 57 percent.

Arand led three players in double figures with 15 points while Borgen dropped in 13 and Raley finished with 11. Kabetske and Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) had four rebounds apiece to lead S&T.

Arkansas-Fort Smith had six players reach double figures in scoring led by Tayla Taylor with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Brown and Gulley finished with 14 points each for the Lady Lions.

S&T returns to the court on Tuesday traveling to Terre Haute, Ind., for an exhibition game against Indiana State at 6 p.m. (CST).