ROLLA, Mo. – It was about as a good of a start as second year head coach Kira Carter could ask for Monday night at Gibson Arena as the Missouri S&T women's basketball team officially opened the 2021-22 season opposite Blackburn. A 23-3 run in the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Miners (1-0) shattered a program record for points in a game with a 115-50 win over the Beavers (0-4).
 
The Miners scored the first points of the night on a Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) layup at 8:38 and never looked back, opening the game on a 23-3 run that saw six different players score in the first 6:44 of action, capped by a Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) jumper at 3:16. Blackburn hit a pair of free throws at the two minute mark before Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) laid one in with 1:33 remaining to push the lead back to 25-5. The Beavers closed the quarter by outscoring S&T 7-5 over the final 1:20 as the first 10 minutes closed with the Green & Gold up 30-12.
 
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) opened the second quarter with a layup before Blackburn answered with one of their own. A Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) layup at 8:14 opened a 13-2 Miner run that ended when BC hit a pair of free throws at 4:01 to make it a 27-point game at 45-18. AJ Agers (DeSoto, MO/St. Pius X) and Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) connected on back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 33-point lead with just over three to go before the half. Puett closed out the half with a layup in the final minute after the Beavers went 1-2 at the stripe on the other end to give S&T a 53-20 lead going to the intermission.
 
The third quarter opened with Roberts completing an old-fashioned three-point play, hitting three free throw after getting fouled on a layup. S&T then outscored Blackburn 14-3 over the following minutes to push the lead into the 40s at the halfway mark of the quarter behind several made field goals from Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and Rodriguez and capped by a Lindesmith triple to make it 72-23. The Miners kept up the intensity as the quarter went on, pushing their advantage into the 50s in the waning moments as 30 minutes came and went with the home team ahead 85-31.
 
Blackburn opened the final period with a 1-2 trip to the stripe before Rodriguez connected on a trey and a pull-up jumper in the lane to get the Miners to 90 on the scoreboard for the game. The points continued to pile up as the Miners cracked the century mark with 6:15 remaining on the second of three-straight made three-pointers and second-straight trey from Lindesmith to lead by 64 at 100-36. A triple from Durk was followed by an Agers jumper in the lane and a Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep) layup to give the Miners their largest lead of the night with 3:52 to go at 107-36. The Green & Gold continued to rotate personnel over the closing minutes as all players who dressed in the game all logged at least 10 minutes. A Whitney Rush (Palm Harbor, FL/East Lake) layup with 1:08 left concluded scoring for the Miners as BC scored the final four points of the game as the evening wrapped up with a 115-50 victory.
 
Five players finished in double digits for the night as Rodriguez led the way for the Miners with 22 points on 8-10 shooting, including 5-6 from long range. Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) scored a career-best 13 point while Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) returned in a big way, scoring 12 points and tying career bests with eight assists and eight made free throws in the game. Puett finished the night with 11 points on 5-7 shooting and added six boards and a career-best three steals. Durk logged 10 points and set a new career high with six steals while also adding six rebounds.
 
Roberts led the way on the glass, pulling down eight boards and scoring nine points in her first official collegiate action on 4-5 shooting while also blocking a game-high four shots. All 12 players who dressed for S&T in the game scored at least two points. Freshman Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) finished with nine points on 3-5 shooting and added six rebounds, with fellow freshman Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep) also scoring nine on 3-4 shooting.
 
Keys scored seven points on 3-4 shooting with three rebounds and three assists. Rush was 3-3 from the field and scored the first six points of her S&T career while Agers and Lilli Machado (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) also scored their first points in a Miner uniform, finishing with five and two points respectively.
 
As a team, the Miners shot 57.3% (43-75) from the field and 45.2% (14-31). from three and recorded 26 assists on 43 made field goals. The 115 points scored are the most in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 113 scored against Westminster on November 13, 2019. That game was also the last time the Miners had five players score in double-figures.
 
Up next for the Miners, they play host to Missouri Southern State Saturday at 1:30 P.M. at Gibson Arena.