SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Back in the postseason for the first time since 2014, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team was on the road for their first round contest of the 2022 GLVC Basketball Championship to take on Illinois Springfield for the second time in the last five days. After leading for most of the way, the Miners (11-16, 8-12) were unable to keep the Prairie Stars (17-10, 11-9) down in the late going, as their season came to a close by a final score of 60-52.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) and
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) opened up the night with a 7-0 Miner run before UIS answered with five of their own to close back within a pair at the 6:25 mark. Keys and Kerr managed to keep S&T out front until the Prairie Stars scored four-straight points to take their first lead of the night at 13-11 with 3:00 to play in the opening period.
Jada Lindesmith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lutheran) answered right back with a three-pointer to spark another 7-0 run to end the period and make it 20-13 Miners after a quarter.
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) made it a nine-point game in the opening moments of the second period but the sixth-seeded Prairie Stars slowly erased the deficit to make it 23-21 with 6:24 remaining. Back-to-back buckets from
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) made it a six-point contest but again UIS battled back, this time to within one at 29-28 to head into halftime.
A Keys jumper opened up the scoring in the second half but was followed by a make from UIS to keep things a one-point game. Nearly two minutes of game time elapsed before the next points went on the board as UIS went back in front 32-31 with a jumper at 7:25. The lead changed hands several times over the following possessions until the Green & Gold mounted a 5-0 run to regain the edge 38-34. UIS went on to score nine of final 13 points of the period to go up one at 43-42 heading to the fourth.
The one-point lead quickly became an eight-point lead as action resumed at 52-44 near the halfway mark of the quarter. UIS, looking for the first ever GLVC Tournament win, managed to just stay one step ahead of S&T over the final minutes of play. Four-straight points from Kerr made got S&T back to 53-52 but no further, as the Prairie Stars went on to a 60-52 win.
Kerr led all scorers with 23 points on 10-13 shooting and pulled down seven blocks with two assists and two blocks. Rodriguez finished with 11 points and four assists while Keys also netted 11 along with eight rebounds in the game.
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) concluded her stellar freshman season with 38 blocks, just outside the top 10 all-time for most in a single season, while Kerr and Rodriguez finished the season with 1,194 and 1,150 points respectively, good for eighth and ninth all-time.
Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) finishes out her S&T career as the all-time leader in games played with 126 and just shy of the 1,000 point mark for career with 993. Her 148 career three-pointers are fifth all-time, while her 301 career assists rank fourth. Durk also recorded 162 career steals, a mark which is also fifth-most in program history.
S&T's 11 wins this season are an increase of seven from last season and is the highest win total in a season since the 2012-13 campaign, when the Miners posted a 16-12 mark. The eight wins in GLVC action are also the most since the 2012-13 season, when the Miners tallied 10 wins in league play.
