ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri S&T women's basketball team was back in the friendly confines of Gibson Arena Saturday afternoon for the first of two home contest to close out the calendar with a matchup against William Woods. The Miners (3-5) had their hands full with the Owls (3-6) for all 40 minutes of action, but were able to pull away in the late going to pick up the win by a score of 55-43.
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) kicked off the scoring, collecting her own rebound for the first basket of the game. William Woods then took the lead, scoring six of the next eight points to hold an 8-4 edge with 6:22 to go.
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) made it 8-6 just about a minute later but the Owls answered with a three on their next possession to make it a five-point game. The two sides went back and forth as baskets were hard to come by in the first 10 minutes of play, as WWU led 15-11 after one quarter.
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) got the Miners back within two after forcing a turnover and collecting a steal at the 8:53 mark in the second quarter.
Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) put S&T back on top with a three at 16-15 but William Woods answered right back with a jumper to briefly regain the lead. Rodriguez then drilled a trey with 7:21 to go to make it a two-point game in favor of the Green & Gold. The Miners continued to lead until the Owls pieced together a 5-0 sequence on a pair of free throws and a three with around 5:28 to go in the period to go back ahead 24-22. The visitors managed to again push their lead to five at 27-22 as the action continued but S&T battled back, but scored the final six points of the half from
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township),
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) and
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) to retake the lead 28-27. William Woods had shot to regain the lead at the horn but a block from Rodriguez dashed those hopes as both teams went to the locker room after 20 minutes.
Kerr opened the third period with a jumper following a steal by Keys to make it a three-point Miner lead at 30-27. The Owls then scored the next six to go back ahead by three and were able to stay ahead until
Erica Waelterman (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves) came off the bench and connected on back-to-back shots, the latter of which was a three, in the final two minutes of the period to put S&T back on top for good at 37-35.
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) briefly made it a four-point game after posting up on the block with a layup but WWU answered with a jumper just before the quarter ended to make it 39-37 heading to the fourth.
S&T started the final frame of the day with the ball and scored on a triple from Durk to push the lead to five. The teams traded jumpers on their next two possessions before going scoreless nearly two minutes until Puett drained a tiple to make it an eight-point game a 47-39. The Owls tried to answer but the Miners were having none of it, closing the game on an 8-4 run to pick up the 55-43 win.
A quartet of Miners finished the game with eight points, headed by Roberts who also had six rebounds and a pair of assists. Kerr went 3-6 from the field with four boards to go with her eight points, with Lindesmith going 2-5 from three with four rebounds of her own with her eight. Rodriguez's eight points also came with three rebounds, three assists and a block. Puett pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and finished with six points in the game while Keys also finished with six and three rebounds. Waelterman finished with five points off the bench on 2-3 shooting for one of the best scoring outings of her career.
As a team, the Miners outrebounded WWU 39-38 and had nine steals on 18 turnovers.
The Miners will be idle until they take the court at Gibson Arena Monday December 20 at 1 P.M. to close out 2021 with a game against Culver-Stockton.
