Joplin, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball team couldn't overcome a blistering start from Missouri Southern in its 77-61 loss at the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center on Tuesday evening in Joplin. The Lions (4-7) hit their first 11 shots of the game including five three's to build a 15-point lead after the first quarter.

The Lady Miners (4-5) had a couple of early leads but Southern countered with a 21-2 run spanning 4:30 minutes. The Lions hit four straight three's during that run. S&T shot 46 percent from the floor in the opening 10 minutes but had no answer on the defensive end as Chelsey Henry had 10 points while Jenson Maydew added nine. Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) led the Lady Miners with seven and Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) added five more.

S&T scored six of the first eight points to begin the second quarter to cut the Southern lead to 35-24 after a layup by Arand. The Lions countered with seven straight of their own to push their lead to its largest of the half at 42-24 on a jumper by Julianna Wadsworth. The Lady Miners wouldn't go away though as they scored the final seven points of the half to head into the locker room trailing 42-31.

The Lions extended their lead to 45-31 a minute into the third quarter on a three-pointer by Dru Clark but S&T responded with a 12-3 to cut the margin to 48-43 on a three-pointer by Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) with 3:10 left in the frame. The Lady Miners had a chance to make it a one-possession came moments later on a two-on-one but Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) had her shot blocked by Maydew and sparked an 8-0 run for Southern. S&T cut the deficit back to 11 at the end of the quarter as Raley hit a three-pointer to beat the buzzer.

The Lady Miners struggled to keep the Lions off the foul line in the second half as Southern went 14-for-21 from the foul stripe and was 8-for-11 in the final stanza. After holding Desirea Buerge to just nine points in the first three she quarters she erupted in the final frame scoring 10 of her 19 points in the stanza.

S&T finished the game shooting 37 percent (24-for-65) from the floor, was 4-of-16 from three and shot 82 percent at the foul line. Raley led the Lady Miners with 19 points while Arand added 11 and Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) dropped in nine.

The Lions cooled off after their hot start but still shot 47 percent (27-for-57) from the field. They were 7-of-18 from the three-point line and shot 62 percent at the foul line. Buerge and Henry had 19 points each to lead Southern while Maydew added 13 and Clark finished with 11.

S&T returns to action on Saturday, December 30 taking on Westminster at 1 p.m. at Billy Key Court.