ROLLA, Mo. - The S&T women's basketball team continued Great Lakes Valley Conference play at home Thursday, but offensive struggles in the second half allowed Lewis rally for a 70-60 win over S&T at Gibson Arena.
In the early stages, S&T (15-12, 11-8 GLVC) came out and made its first four shots from the field, with
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) scoring the first four points followed by back-to-back three-point baskets by
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and
Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) to give the Miners and early 10-4. Rodriguez remained red hot for the field as she added a five-point run to allow the Miners to go up by nine, then after baskets by Lewis' Taylor Gugliuzza and Lily Courier cut the lead to five, she drained a deep three-point basket to put S&T up by eight and also become the program's second-leading career scorer in the process. Rodriguez ended up scoring 11 of her 19 points in the first quarter.Â
The Miners led 22-14 after one quarter, then got a basket from
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, MO/St. Joseph's Academy) to stretch the lead to double digits. S&T kept the lead throughout the balance of the first half and took a 36-28 lead at the half.
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But coming out of the break, Lewis (19-8, 15-4 GLVC) came out on a 11-2 run, with Stephanie Hart giving the Flyers their first lead of the game at 38-37 on a three-point basket – the first of the game for Lewis -- at the 4:47 mark, as the Miners went one-of-eight from the field to begin the second half. Rodriguez was able to give S&T a one-point lead at 40-39 on a jumper in the paint before the teams traded baskets over the final three and a half minutes of the quarter; a Taylor Gugliuzza lay-in as time expired in the period gave the Flyers a 46-44 advantage heading into the final quarter.Â
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Michaela Davis (Keokuk, Iowa/Keokuk) tied the game at 48-48 on an elbow jump shot with 7:17 to play, but Gugliuzza started a 6-0 Lewis run where she scored the first four points and Kathryn Schmidt added a jumper in the paint to give the Flyers a six-point lead. Rodriguez ended the run with a 15-foot jumper that cut the deficit to four, then moments later,
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) cut the deficit to three after draining a three-point basket. S&T got to within four with 1:35 left after a deep three-pointer by Keys, but the Miners were unable to get the rebound on a Gugliuzza miss and she would score a few seconds later to extend back to six.
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The Miners were led in scoring and rebounding by Rodriguez as she scored 19 points and secured a career-high 11 rebounds for her first career double-double of her career. Kerr was the only other Miner in double figures with 11 points. Â
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The Flyers were led in scoring by Gugliuzza with 19 points, while Hart added 15 and Schmidt finished with a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Lewis went just three-of-19 from three-point range, but scored 20 second chance points in the contest.
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The Miners will play its final home game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m against Indianapolis on Senior Day in Gibson Arena.
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