ROLLA, Mo. – Still looking for their first win in the new year, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team was back at Gibson Arena for their second matchup of the season against William Jewell. The Miners (5-8, 2-5) led from nearly start to finish Saturday afternoon, outscoring the Cardinals 42-25 in the second half to roll to a 73-42 win to sweep the season series.
The Cardinals won the tip and got on the board first with a second-chance basket and led 5-2 in the first minute, but
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) scored the first five of the game for the Miners, hitting a jumper in the paint to start and draining a trey from
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) to tie things at 5-5. A 1-2 trip to the stripe by
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) at 8:15 gave the Miners a lead they would never relinquish. A 6-2 run from Kerr made it a five-point edge for S&T before
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) connected on a three to make it 15-7 with just over five to play. The Green & Gold continued to extend their lead over the balance of the quarter and led 19-9 after 10 minutes.
WJC scored first to open the second stanza but were quickly answered by a
Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) three-pointer. The pace of play slowed for both teams in the period as baskets were hard to come by, but the Miners continued to hold the Cardinals at bay as the lead fluctuated between nine and 11 points until
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) connected on a second chance triple at the buzzer on a pass from
Katarina Zagorac (Novi Sad, Serbia/Gymnasium Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj) to take a 31-17 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter saw the Miners pull away in a big way, as they outscored the opposition 20-4 to begin the second half. After WJC scored laid one in at 8:23, S&T rattled off 14-straight points, getting contributions from Rodriguez, Kerr and Keys to run their lead to 29 at 48-19. William Jewell broke through to end the run with a jumper at 3:44, but an
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) triple two possessions later once more made it a 30-point game at 51-21 as the teams headed to the final period.
Rodriguez opened the fourth with a jumper to give the Miners their biggest lead of the day at 53-21. WJC scored the next five points to get the deficit back under 30. An
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) three at 6:24 again made it at 30-point game at 58-28 but the Cardinals showed resolve and continued to play hard out the stretch, matching S&T basket for basket in the closing minutes of play.
AJ Agers (DeSoto, MO/St. Pius X) closed out the scoring for the afternoon, scoring on a jumper and hitting a three on a pair of dimes from
Lilli Machado (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) wrap up the 73-42 win.
Rodriguez finished the day with 16 points to lead all scorers on 5-10 shooting while Kerr finished with 15 points, eight boards, four steals and two blocks. Keys added nine points and six boards while Durk eight points, five rebounds and five assists. For the game, S&T recorded 15 steals and 18 assists on 27 made field goals and saw 10 different players find the scoring column.
The Miners conclude their busy stretch with a trip north to Pepsi Arena to take on Quincy Monday evening at 5:30 P.M.
