ROLLA, Mo. - The S&T women's basketball team closed out its four-game homestand by getting a huge game from
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) to pick up a 75-69 victory over Missouri-St. Louis Thursday evening in Gibson Arena.
The Miners finished the homestand by winning three of the four games – losing only to second-ranked Drury – and got off to a strong start by scoring 32 points in the opening quarter to take a 10-point lead and led for the duration of the contest, holding off a second half surge by the Tritons to move to 13-11 overall and 9-7 in GLVC play.
In the first two minutes of the game, S&T got out to a 7-2 lead on an
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, MO/St. Joseph's Academy) layup and five straight points by Rodriguez. However, the Tritons responded by outscoring S&T 11-6 and tied the contest when Amaya Blake hit a jumper in the paint. But at the 4:35 mark, Rodriguez broke the tie on a three-point basket to put S&T into the lead for good. The Tritons cut the deficit to one at 16-15 on a Jalysa Stokes jumper before the Miners answered with a 8-2 run which started with a
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) lay-in and was capped on back-to-back layups by Kerr to take a 25-17 advantage.
In the latter portion of the quarter, Rodriguez stretched the lead to double digits after her three-point basket as S&T took a 32-22 lead -- with Rodriguez ending up with 18 points in the quarter while draining four attempts from three-point range.
The Tritons made a 9-0 run that got them back to within three, but Rodriguez broke the run on a jumper from the elbow that made the game 36-31 and a pair of free throws by
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) gave S&T a 38-31 lead at the break.
After Kerr and Stewart exchanged lay-ins to start the second half, S&T erupted for a 13-0 run where
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) scored six straight points and Keys added five points, with her last basket increasing the lead to 20. Over the ladder point of the quarter, UMSL was able to cut the deficit to 13 at the end of the quarter after a pair of Stokes free-throws.
In the final quarter with just over six minutes to go, UMSL started a late rally with a 14-4 run that cut the deficit to four with just 38 seconds remaining. The Miners, however, made all six attempts from the foul line to hold off the late surge.
The Miners finished with four players in double figures, by Rodriguez with 30 – two short of her career high – and Kerr contributed 20 while hauling down a team-high seven rebounds. Rodriguez netted four of S&T's five three-point field goals.
Davis and Keys added 12 and 11 points, respectively, as all four double-figure scorers went a perfect 24-of-24 from the charity stripe.
As a team, S&T shot 42.6 percent from the field while shooting 92.3 percent from the free-throw line as all 75 points came from the starting five.
The Tritons (9-13, 7-9 GLVC) were led in scoring by Stokes with 23 and Blake with 16.
The Miners will resume action on Feb. 16 as they visit McKendree, with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center in Lebanon, Ill.
