ROLLA, Mo. – After being idle for more than a week, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team was back on the court Monday afternoon at Gibson Arena for their final contest of the 2021 calendar year, as they hosted Culver-Stockton. The Miners (4-5) trailed at the half but were able to overcome the deficit in the final 20 minutes of action to pick up the 69-62 win over the Wildcats (7-6).
 
The visitors, who were playing Monday's game as an exhibition, got on the board first and led 4-0 at the 6:56 mark before Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) got the Miners on the board with a jumper in transition. The two teams traded baskets as the quarter went on until S&T took their first lead of the game on back-to-back buckets from Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) and Rodriguez to make it 12-10. C-SC answered with a three on their next possession before the Green & Gold closed the quarter on a 5-0 run on a layup from Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) and a triple from Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) to lead 17-13 after 10 minutes.
 
The Wildcats opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to lead 24-17 with 7:27 remaining to force a timeout by the Miners. Out of the break, S&T battled back and closed the deficit to two with 3:51 to go after a Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) and two Puett free throws made it a 28-26 game. Culver-Stockton was able to push their lead back to five with 1:15 before the half but a Durk triple with 40 seconds made it 35-33 before the two teams headed to the locker room for halftime.
 
A 6-0 run from the Miners to open the third quarter led by Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) made it a 39-35 game. The Miners continued to lead as the period went on, pushing their advantage to seven at 46-39 after another Puett triple. The Wildcats managed to battle back though and managed to close within one at 47-46 after two free throws with 2:00 to go.  The Miners were able to push their lead back to five by way of six points from Rodriguez and Lindesmith to make it a 53-48 game after 30 minutes.
 
C-SC scored first in the final stanza and closed to within three at 53-50, but that would be as close as the visitors were able to get as Rodriguez, Keys and Roberts pushed the Miner lead to nine at 59-50. The lead decreased to five around the seven-minute mark, but a 7-0 run made it a 12-point game at 66-54 and give S&T their biggest lead of the contest with 4:46 remaining. A trio of Wildcat free throws in the final minute closed out the afternoon as S&T picked up the 69-62 win.
 
Kerr posted her best game of the season Monday, finishing with 16 points and 11 boards for her 15th career double-double. Lindesmith closed the day with 12 points on 4-8 shooting and was 3-5 from beyond the arc with five boards and three assists. Puett finished with nine points and four boards while the trio of Durk, Keys and Rodriguez all had eight points.
 
The Miners will be idle for the next two weeks for Christmas and the New Year and will resume play Sunday January 2 with a GLVC matchup at Rockhurst at 1 P.M.