ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The S&T women's basketball team won for the fourth straight time in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday afternoon as it rallied in the fourth quarter to knock off Maryville 64-60 at Moloney Arena.
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) drained a three-point basket with 2:33 left to give the Miners the lead, then the Miner defense got one stop after another to maintain that slim lead before
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, MO/St. Joseph's Academy) scored in the lane while falling to the floor late in the contest to extend the lead. The Miners got two more late stops around a
Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) free throw to lock up their 15th win overall and 11th in GLVC play.
In the early stages of the contest, S&T (15-11, 11-7 GLVC) got off to an early 7-2 lead and held onto the advantage throughout the balance of the period, getting late baskets from
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) and
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) to take a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Keys increased the lead to double-digits after her lay-in on the Miners' opening possession of the second period and the Miners still had the lead at 10 until the Saints (15-11,10-9 GLVC) made a surge late in the half, as Taylor Kirby started a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to two before Davis made a lay-in with just two seconds left that gave S&T the 34-29 lead at the break.
Kerr connected on a three-point play to open the second half before Maryville erupted for a 12-0 run, as Carsyn Fearday tied the game at 37-37 on a three-point basket and Hunter Stidham and Haidyn Pitsch added three-point baskets to give Maryville a six-point lead. Kerr cut the deficit down to three on a lay-in at 45-42, but Rylee Mulvaney increased the deficit back to six after her three-point basket.
The Miners were able to trim the margin to four by the end of the third period, but fell back behind by seven when Antoinette Mussorici added a three-point play. The Miners continued to chip away, largely on the shooting of
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) as she came off the bench and netted back-to-back three-point baskets that cut the deficit to two. Kerr tied the game at 58-58 after making one-of-two from the line, but Kirby gave Maryville a two-point lead with a basket on the Saints' next MU possession.
However, at the 2:33 mark, Keys netted a deep three-point basket from the wing that gave S&T the lead, then the Miners held the Saints scoreless from that point and were able to add to the lead on the late basket by Kerr, as she completed a game in which she led the Miners with 21 points and 14 rebounds.S&T got 20 points from its bench, 12 of them from Kent on four three-point baskets.
As a team, S&T shot 41.2 percent from behind the arc while out rebounding the Saints 45-39 and recording five steals.
Maryville had three players finish in double figures led by Pitsch with 18, while Fearday added 14 and Kirby contributed 12 to go along with 10 rebounds.
The Miners will close out its regular season schedule with a two-game homestand, starting with a matchup with Lewis Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Gibson Arena.
