ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the seventh-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region throughout their matchup Saturday afternoon at Billy Key Court, but Lewis used a surge late in the third quarter to take the lead and held on for an 87-80 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory.

The Lady Miners (8-16, 3-13 GLVC) held a three-point lead at halftime and extended that advantage to nine early in the second half before Lewis (21-6, 14-3 GLVC) came to life on the offensive end.  After trailing 50-41 following a three-pointer by Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter, the Flyers made 17 of their final 26 shots on a day when they shot 55.6 percent from the field.

However, Lewis had a hard time shaking the Lady Miners, who continued to maintain the lead throughout the third quarter until Gabby Green went one-of-two at the line with 3:18 left in the quarter to tie the score at 55.  S&T went back in front on a basket by Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) 14 seconds later and answered the Flyers two additional times to get the lead back before the Flyers scored the final six points of the quarter to take the lead.

Dajae Black's lay-up in the final minute of the third quarter put Lewis in front 63-61 and the Flyers held the lead for the rest of the afternoon, even as S&T stayed close over the final 10 minutes.  The Lady Miners got to within one at 72-71 on a lay-up by Bria Pierce (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley North) and again at 75-74 following a three-point play by Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) with 5:24 left to play, but the Flyers went to the GLVC's leading scorer, Jessica Kelliher, to keep S&T at bay.

Following Bland's three-point play, Kelliher scored the next four points to push the Lewis lead to five, then with a little over a minute to play, she scored off a long inbounds pass to push the margin the seven.

Kelliher, who entered Saturday averaging 24.9 points per game, finished with a game-high 31 points and added 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.  She was aided by front line running mate Rachel Hinders, who poured in 20.

Missouri S&T was paced by two of the three seniors honored on Senior Day Saturday, as Janie Arand (Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) finished with 22 points and Joe'l Bland (St. Charles, Mo./Homeschooled) scored a season-high 18.  Arand went six-of-eight from three-point range and also dished out five assists for S&T, who shot 48.3 percent for the day and made nine-of-17 from beyond the arc.

The third Lady Miner senior honored Saturday, Kim Runge (Freedom, Wis./Freedom), is currently sidelined with an injury.

The Lady Miners will host McKendree in their final home game of the season on Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m.