ROLLA, MO- The Miners had a big reason to celebrate today, claiming their first win of the season with the 79-68 final over the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist (0-2, 0-2 GLVC). This also marked the first win as a head coach for
Kira Carter.
Southwest Baptist jumped out to an early lead after Nyah Pettus drained a transition three-pointer and gave the Bearcats the 6-2 lead.
S&T and SBU would trade baskets, and the lead, throughout the quarter until the last minute.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it up to give the Miners the 20-19 lead.
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) would follow that up with a Fastbreak lay-up and free-throw to complete the three-point play and push S&T's lead out to four heading into the second quarter.
While the Miners offense continued to push, they were never able to pull away from the Bearcats in the second quarter.
After SBU regained the lead on a three-pointer from Kyleigh Vaught, S&T's
Ashley Harvey (Raytown, Mo./Raytown) and
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) scored back-to-back lay-ups to put the Miners back in the 27-24 lead. The teams, once again, traded baskets throughout the 10 minutes of play and saw a 37-36 Miners lead going into the half after
Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) found
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) under the basket for an easy lay-up.
The Miners were finally able to pull away from the Bearcats in the third quarter, getting their biggest lead of the game after
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) found
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) in the corner for a wide open three-pointer.
SBU would make a small run mid-way through the quarter and tie the game at 46 after Regan Tibbits drained a three from the top of the key. The duo of
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) and
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) would push the Miners back out to their six-point lead after Rodriguez sank a three-pointer from the wing and Puett completed her second -and one of the game.
The Bearcats would cut their deficit just before the end of the quarter when Tibbits sank a free-throw and made it 54-51.
S&T's shooting caught fire in the final 10 minutes of the game, shooting just under 53% from the field and going 3-5 from long range.
The Miners got their largest lead of the night on an 18-9 run to open the quarter that was capped with another three-pointer from
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township). The 72-60 lead would be enough to hold the Bearcats for the rest of the game, never getting back within five points of the Miners.
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and
Ashley Harvey (Raytown, Mo./Raytown) sealed the deal for the Miners with consecutive baskets in the last minute of play to take the 79-68 win.
Four Miner players scored in double figures today;
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) led all players with 17 points and nine rebounds while going 6-10 from the field while
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) and
Ashley Harvey (Raytown, Mo./Raytown) added in 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) was the final Miner with 10 points.
As a team, Missouri S&T (1-4, 1-4 GLVC) shot 46% from the field and went 15-21 from the free-throw line while out-rebounding the Bearcats 44-32.
