LIBERTY, Mo. – After opening GLVC action Monday, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team took the court at the Mabee Center for another league matchup Thursday night at the Mabee Center against William Jewell. The Miners (2-4, 1-1) got double-digit scoring efforts from four individuals Thursday night and got contributions from up and down the lineup against the Cardinals (0-6, 0-2), as they opened the month of December with a 74-62 win.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) scored the first points of the night in her first action of the year before Jewell answered with a three and a jumper to lead 5-2.
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) hit her first triple of the night at 8:20 to even the score before
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) connected on a jumper to put the Miners back on top 7-5. A triple from Jewell put them back on top and they managed to hold the lead until
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) converted the traditional three-point play with 5:35 to put S&T back on top. S&T continued to lead as the period went on and led by as much as eight with 1:38 to go after a 1-2 trip to the line from Roberts at 25-17. WJC scored in the final 34 seconds but two
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) free throws closed the half and pushed the lead back to eight a 27-19 after 10 minutes.
The Cardinals opened the second quarter with a 5-0 run to get within three of the Miners before Kerr scored on a dime from
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) at 8:08 to break things up. A Jewell trey about a minute later made it a two point game before tying things at 33 with 5:21 to go. The Miners never yielded, as back-to-back scores by Keys and Durk pushed the Green & Gold back ahead. The Cardinals battled back and were able to get within one in the closing minutes but couldn't quite get back in front as a Puett layup made it 39-36, a score that would hold going into the intermission.
William Jewell scored first to open the third quarter before Kerr answered on a second-chance basket in the paint that started a short 5-0 Miner run that saw Rodriguez drain a three from Keys to make it 44-38 at 7:32. S&T continued to lead and pushed their advantage to seven following a triple from Keys and eventually led by as much as 10 in the quarter after Rodriguez got lose and went coast to coast for a layup to make it 54-44 with 3:46 remaining. WJC managed to close to within five in the final 30 seconds of the period before Keys nailed a jumper at the horn to give the Miners a 58-51 edge through 30 minutes.
The S&T advantage closed to four in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter at 58-54 before Puett scored on back-to-back layups to again make it an eight-point game at 62-54. The Miners managed to comfortably lead throughout the final frame of the night and led by 12 following a Puett triple with 2:42 to go. William Jewell was never able to close to within less than 10 as the period drew to a close as a pair of Rodriguez free throws in the final 34 seconds all but iced things as S&T picked up the 74-62 win.
Rodriguez led the way with 17 points on 5-10 shooting, including 3-6 from deep while Puett and Keys both finished with season-high marks of 13 points and along with six boards. Roberts posted another double-digit scoring game, finishing with 12 points and six boards along with two blocks. Kerr made her season debut and was efficient in her time on the court, scoring eight points and pulling down two boards while recording a block.
The Miners have one more Great Lakes Valley Conference contest before stepping back out of conference before the holiday break and will head to Bolivar Saturday for a 1 P.M. matchup opposite Southwest Baptist.
