ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's women's basketball team overcame a late deficit to force overtime Tuesday night, but couldn't come away with a victory as Health Sciences & Pharmacy left Gibson Arena with an 89-87 victory.
The Miners trailed by eight with 1:23 remaining in regulation time, but used a 10-2 surge to even the score. S&T was down 80-76 after Grace Beyer hit two free throws with 24 seconds to go, but a quick basket by
Franchesca Metz (Downers Grove, IL/Nazareth Academy) cut the margin in half, then the Miners forced a turnover and after a timeout,
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) found
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) down low for the game-tying basket with 10 seconds remaining.
Beyer – who racked up 42 points in the game – missed a shot in the paint as time expired, but put the Eutectics (3-3) in the lead on their first possession in the extra period.
S&T never led in the overtime period, but stayed on the Eutectics' heels and got to within one after an
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) three-pointer with 44 seconds to go. The Miners then had a chance to take the lead after a Beyer miss at the other end, but
Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep) missed a contested shot just outside the lane and UHSP got the ball after the rebound ended up out of bounds.
Elizabeth Allanach made one-of-two at the line with six seconds left to make it a two-point game, but the Miners couldn't convert at the other end as time ran out.
The Miners led by as much as five in the early going, but UHSP used an 11-0 run to go into the lead and extended it to as much as 13 near the midway point of the second quarter. S&T cut into that margin late in the first half, using an 8-2 surge to get the lead down to five before the Eutectics took a seven-point lead to the locker room. UHSP went nine-of-12 from the field in the second quarter to help it build the double-digit lead.
S&T began to cut into the lead in the second half, getting to within two following a three-pointer by Davis just over two minutes into the third period. After the Eutectics pushed their lead back out to nine, S&T scored five of the final seven points of the quarter and got a lay-in from
Norah Gum (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) to trim the lead to five at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Miners had the lead down to two with 2:27 to go after a basket by Roberts, but back-to-back three-pointers by Beyer and Allenach allowed UHSP to go back up in just over a minute before the Miners made their late rally to extend the contest to overtime.
Roberts scored a career-high 28 points for the Miners (1-8), while Kent had a season-high 12 points and Metz and Puett finished with 10 apiece. The Miners shot 42.5 percent from the field and hit a season-best nine three-pointers, but UHSP matched them from long range and also went 26-of-30 at the free throw line – with Beyer making all 17 of her attempts from the charity stripe.
Missouri S&T will return to the Great Lakes Valley Conference circuit on Saturday when it hosts Maryville at 1 p.m. at Gibson Arena.
