INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Missouri S&T women's basketball team continued their final road trip of the season Thursday night at Nicoson Hall with the second contest of the season against Indianapolis. The Miners (10-13, 7-10) overcame a slow start to the evening before taking the lead behind a big second quarter, and held off a late push by the Greyhounds (9-14, 6-9) to record a 70-65 win.
S&T controlled the opening tip and struck first in the game on a jumper from
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones). Both teams traded baskets and the lead in the early going until Indianapolis rattled off a 7-0 run to take the first significant advantage of the ballgame at 15-8. A
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) jumper briefly made it a five-point game but five more Greyhound points made it 20-10 before
Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) closed the opening quarter with a pullup jumper in the lane to make it an eight-point affair through 10 minutes.
The UIndy lead swelled to 11 in the opening moments of the second quarter but the Miners came charging back, scoring nine straight points to close within two. Rodriguez got the run going with a jumper before
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) scored the next four on free throws and a jumper.
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) drained a three to make it 25-23 but the Greyhounds were able to weather the storm momentarily as S&T quickly regained the lead 30-29 on four
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) free throws sandwiched around a jumper by Kerr. The run from the Miners continued with a Lindesmith jumper and three-pointer from
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) to make it 35-29 with 2:13 to play. The lead fluctuated between four and six until the final seconds, when UIndy hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to make it 38-35 heading into halftime.
S&T opened the second half the same way they opened the first with a jumper, this time from Keys but Indianapolis quickly tied things up at 40 with a quick 5-0 run. A Kerr jumper put S&T back on top but a Greyhound three made short work of the deficit and put the home team back on top.
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) answered with a three of her own on the next possession to again put S&T on top 45-43. That lead would carry throughout the rest of the quarter as UIndy was able to get within three but S&T always managed a response and after a
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) basket to close the frame, led 56-50.
The Green & Gold pushed their lead up to 10 over the first several minutes of the fourth quarter behind a 6-0 run from Kerr,
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) and Keys to lead 62-52 with 6:24 remaining. The pace of play slowed over the middle portion of the period as neither side was able to score until UIndy knocked down two free throws at the 3:52 mark to make it 62-54. The Greyhounds tried to mount a late push in the final minutes of play and were able to close to within four in the final 42 seconds at 65-51, but the Miners were able to close things out at the free throw line to collect the 70-65 win to split the season series and snap a three-game losing streak in the series and win for the first time in Indianapolis since 2011.
Kerr led all scorers in the game with 19 points and finished two boards shy of a double-double with eight. Keys scored 13 points with three rebounds and three steals, while Rodriguez and
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) each posted 11 points on the night, with the former pulling down five rebounds and the latter going 7-8 from the free throw line in the game.
The Miners close out their week on the road Saturday with a trip to Evansville for their final matchup against Southern Indiana before they join the Division I ranks next season. Action is set to get underway at 1 P.M.
