ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball team tried to rally back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter Thursday night, but was unable to make up for a slow start and ended up on the losing end of a 72-65 decision against Indianapolis at Billy Key Court.
The Lady Miners (8-15, 3-12 Great Lakes Valley Conference) made only seven-of-31 from the field in the first half and trailed by double figures for the most of the first 20 minutes of play. UIndy (8-17, 5-10 GLVC) used a 12-0 run to take their initial double digit lead and finished the first half with a 37-21 advantage.
Early in the second half, the Lady Miners made a push and used a 6-0 spurt to cut the Greyhound lead to nine with 4:27 left in the third quarter. However, UIndy used the long ball to regain control of matters, hitting four three-pointers from that point in time to the end of the quarter to extend its lead to 15 when the fourth period began.
The lead eventually grew to 21 before the Lady Miners began rallying in the final minutes, as they hit 11-of-17 from the floor in the fourth quarter. S&T cut the 21-point lead down to eight following a lay-up by
Ashley Harvey (Raytown, Mo./Raytown) with 1:02 to play, but could only get as close as seven in the final minute.
Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) and
Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) led the Lady Miners with 14 points apiece, while
Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) was also in double figures with 13. The Lady Miners ended up shooting 37.7 percent for the game, but the Greyhounds made 49 percent of their shots -- including 12 three-pointers – and outrebounded S&T by a 48-21 margin.
Martha Burse, the second-leading scorer in the GLVC, scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Greyhounds and Claire Carlton added 20.
Missouri S&T returns to action Saturday when it hosts Lewis at 1 p.m. at Billy Key Court. Saturday will be the Lady Miners' Senior Day game and the 2007-08 team that reached the regional championship will also be honored at Saturday's doubleheader.
