ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball team roared out of the gate to begin the post-holiday portion of the schedule, jumping out to a double figure lead in the first five minutes of the game and never looking back in defeating Cottey 70-41 Saturday afternoon at Gibson Arena.
The Miners led from start to finish in the contest, scoring the first 11 points in the game and never leading by fewer than eight for the remainder of the game. They scored on four of their first six possessions, getting baskets from
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville),
Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep), a three-pointer from
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) and the last from
Bonnie Lew Ludlow (Indianapolis, IN/Covenant Christian) to go up by nine in the early going.
S&T extended that lead to 11-0 on another basket by Ludlow just past the midway point of the first quarter before the Comets (8-4) got on the scoreboard. Kent hit another three in the final minute of the period to extend S&T's lead to 14-3 at the end of the quarter, then a 6-0 burst to begin the second quarter pushed the Miner advantage to 17 at the 7:33 mark.
The Miners (3-10) led by 12 at the intermission despite shooting just 38.9 percent in the first half, but scored 11 of their 30 points in the half off of 10 Comet turnovers.
After Cottey cut the lead to 10 in the opening minute of the second half, the Miners went on a 12-0 run to effectively knock out the Comets. Davis hit two free throws to start the run and
Franchesca Metz (Downers Grove, IL/Nazareth Academy) hit two at the end of it to make it a 22-point game before S&T extended the lead to 25 before the third quarter ended. The margin would grow to as much as 34 in the fourth quarter as the Miners made seven of their 14 shots in the period.
S&T, who shot 40.3 percent for the afternoon, got a double-double from Davis as she finished with career highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Miners also got 11 points from
Norah Gum (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) off the bench and 10 from
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville).
Cottey, who was held to 32.1 percent overall from the field and a two-of-17 mark from three-point range on the afternoon, was paced by Autumn Wallace with 10 points.
Missouri S&T returns to its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Wednesday when it takes on Lewis in a 5:30 p.m. contest in Romeoville, Ill.
