PITTSBURG, Kan. – Returning to the court in their first action after the Thanksgiving holiday, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team took the court Saturday at John Lance Arena to take on their third of three-straight opponents from the MIAA in Pittsburg State. The Miners (1-3) trailed by nine after the opening quarter and were never quite able to pace the Gorillas (3-1) for the full 40 minutes, falling by a score of 82-57.
 
The Gorillas opened the game with an 11-0 run that was broken up when Lauran Rodriguez laid one in at 5:26 to get the Miners on the board. Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) hit a jumper on S&T's next trip down the floor after PSU answered with a basket of their own to make it 13-4 before Rodriguez scored another two with 3:38 to go to get within seven at 13-6. Pittsburg State managed to push their lead back to 13 at 20-7 with 1:24 to go in the quarter but back-to-back threes from Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) sandwiched around a Pitt basket made it 22-13 after 10 minutes.
 
PSU opened the second with a layup but the Miners scored the next four to make it 24-17 after a pair of Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) free throws and a Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) jumper at the 8:31 mark. Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) answered a Gorilla basket with one of her to keep it a seven-point game before the home team managed to push their lead back to double-figures at 33-19. A 1-2 trip to the stripe by Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) and a triple from Puett got the deficit back down to 10 at 33-23 before PSU hit a jumper to make it a 12-point game. Rodriguez connected on her next two shots and made it 35-27 with 2:24 left in the half, but eight points was a close as S&T would get before the intermission as 20 minutes elapsed with Pittsburg State ahead 31-42.
 
The third quarter opened with a 9-0 Gorilla run to make it 51-31 at the eight minute mark as the Miners' first point of the half on a Lindesmith free throw at 7:13. The Miners battled back to get within 14 points as the half went on following a trey from Puett to make it 54-40 but Pittsburg State was able to push their lead back to 19 in the final three minutes. Both sides struggled to score in the closing moments of the period but a layup from Kristin Keys broke the drought with 20 seconds to go to make it 61-44 with 10 minutes to go.
 
Pitt State scored first in the final quarter of the afternoon and were able to push their lead to as much as 27 at 75-48 with just under four and a half minutes to go. A layup from Roberts and a triple from Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep) made it a 22-point affair at 75-53 before Davis went 1-2 from the line to get to 78-56 with 1:41 to go. The Gorillas hit a jumper on their next trip before the teams traded free throws to close the game as the Miners fell 82-57.
 
Roberts led the way with 12 points on 4-7 shooting and went 4-4 from the stripe while also recording four rebounds and four blocks. Rodriguez was also in double-digits with 10 points. Puett added eight while Keys scored seven and had a team-best seven boards along with three assists and two steals.
 
The Miners will have Sunday off before returning to action Monday evening at Gibson Arena in their 2021-22 Great Lakes Valley Conference opener against #3 Drury (8-1) at 5:30 P.M.