ROLLA, Mo. – After opening 2022 with a pair of road contests, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team was back in Gibson Arena Thursday evening to play host to GLVC Central opponent Truman State. The Miners (4-8, 1-5) managed to overcome a slow start to the game with a ferocious effort in the second half, but their late push came up just short as the Bulldogs (9-5, 5-1) came away with the 71-63 win.
Truman State opened the game on a 16-2 run spanning most of the first quarter, with the lone S&T field goal in the first 8:56 coming from
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) at the 7:20 mark.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) went 1-2 at the line with 1:04 to go to break the run up as the Bulldogs closed the period with a 21-5 win.
Keys opened the second period with a jumper for the Miners and was followed by an
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) three to get within 11 at 21-10 with 6:33 to go. Truman State managed to push their lead back to 15 with just under four minutes remaining but a 7-2 Miner run from
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) and
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) closed the deficit to single digits at 26-17 with just over minute to go. TSU closed out the half with four-straight points to lead 30-17 going to the intermission.
A 1-2 trip to the charity stripe from Kerr opened the second half as both teams went back-and-forth trading baskets as both offenses settled into a rhythm. Truman State managed to keep their lead at double-figures although it did dwindle to 11 following a three-point play from Kerr with 5:05 remaining. The Bulldogs answered and pushed their lead to 18 with just under a minute to play. A
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) triple briefly made it a 15-point game but Truman scored right after the trey to lead 53-36 through 30 minutes.
S&T's offense exploded in the final period of the night, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly five minutes and going on a 13-0 run to just about erase the deficit to close within four at 53-49 courtesy of Durk, Keys, Kerr and Rodriguez. Truman State managed to hang onto the lead and answered with six of their own to push the advantage back to 11 at 60-49 with 4:32 to play. The upset-minded Miners kept the pressure up, again closing to within four at 62-58 with 1:43 remaining after another old-fashioned three-point play from Kerr. Truman State then started connecting on free throws in the final 90 seconds to start closing things out. Another Durk triple interrupted things and made it a seven-pint affair with 30 seconds remaining at 68-61, but three more free throws all but sealed the win for the Bulldogs, despite Durk connecting on a jumper with 14 seconds to go to make it an eight-point final score of 71-63.
Durk led the Miners with season-best 18 points on 7-12 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point land. Kerr added 14 points, seven boards and two blocks, which puts her at 100 for her S&T career and is the sixth player to reach that mark, while Rodriguez finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
S&T will be right back at it Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena in their second match of the season against William Jewell. Saturday will also be Church & Community Organization Day at Gibson Arena.
