St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners were unable to overcome cold shooting in the second half of its 64-51 loss on Thursday evening at the Mark Twain Building in St. Louis, Mo. After shooting over 50 percent from the floor in the first half the Lady Miners (10-14, 5-11 GLVC) were held to just 32 percent (8-for-25) shooting in the final 20 minutes.

The Tritons (14-10, 9-7 GLVC) took the early lead on a bucket by Jordan Fletcher but S&T answered on the other end with a three by Raetchel Gray (Allen, Okla./Byng ) to give it the lead and sparked a 7-0 run. UMSL countered with an 8-2 run to retake the lead at 10-9 on a jumper by Laura Szorenyi nearly halfway through the opening quarter.

The Lady Miners counterpunched outscoring the Tritons 11-2 over a three-minute span to take their largest lead of the game at 20-12 with 0:34 on a bucket by Katey Brown (Craig, Neb./Guardian Angels Central Catholic). Brown scored six of the points in that run while Elsie Greenwood (Breckenridge, Mo./Penney High School) had three and Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) added two. UMSL got a putback from Chelsey Jacox to end the quarter with S&T ahead 20-14.

The Tritons trimmed the Lady Miner lead to three on two different occasions early in the second period but each time S&T was able to extend the lead back out. The lead grew to 34-27 after a three-pointer from Gray with 3:03 to go in the quarter but the Lady Miners would be held scoreless the rest of the half as UMSL got a bucket with 1:09 left from Sydney Bloch to cut the lead to 34-29 at the intermission.

The two sides traded buckets for the first two and a half minutes of the third quarter with S&T still holding a five point lead after a bucket from Arand with 7:36 to go in the stanza. The Tritons locked it in on the defensive end holding the Lady Miners scoreless for six minutes and scored six straight to retake the lead at 39-38 on a pair of free throws by Robneisha Lee with 2:34 remaining.

Arand gave S&T the lead back on the ensuing possession with a putback and then Greenwood was fouled on a drive to the hoop but made only 1-of-2 at the foul line. After UMSL tied the game at 41, Aricca Daye (Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines East) gave the Lady Miners the lead back on a layup but missed an opportunity at a three-point play when she couldn't convert the free throw. The Tritons evened the game with 0:15 left in the frame on two more free throws from Lee.

S&T had a chance to retake the lead near the end of the quarter but Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) missed a three and UMSL got the rebound to end the quarter.

The Tritons opened the fourth quarter scoring the first seven points to grab a 50-43 lead 1:37 into the stanza. Arand brought the Lady Miners to within three scoring four straight points but Szorenyi got free in the left corner and knocked down a three pushing the UMSL lead to 53-47 with 5:35 to play. Fletcher made it an eight point game on a layup with less than four minutes to go.

S&T refused to go away as Gray hit a long jumper to make it a two score game and then Greenwood picked off a pass and drove in for a layup to make it 55-51 with 3:03 left. That would be the final points scored by the Lady Miners as the Tritons scored the last nine points, seven at the foul line, of the game to seal the victory.

Arand finished with 18 points to lead S&T while Brown added 10 more. Gray and Greenwood finished with eight points each. Jamy Douvier (Sedgwick, Kan./Sunrise Christian Academy) led the Lady Miners with five rebounds and Arand had four assists. S&T finished the game shooting 44 percent (19-for-43) from the field, was 2-of-9 from three and 11-for-14 at the foul line.

UMSL also shot 44 percent (23-of-52) from the floor but was 4-for-13 from three and 14-of-19 at the charity stripe. Fletcher led all scorers with 20 points while Lee added 13, Szorenyi had 12 and Jacox finished with 11. Fletcher also grabbed 10 rebounds while Lee and Szorenyi had four assists each.

The Lady Miners return to action on Saturday afternoon traveling back to St. Louis to take on Maryville at 1 p.m.