LEBANON, Ill. – Thanks to a torrid shooting performance in the second half, Missouri S&T's women's basketball team picked up its biggest win of the season Saturday as it downed Great Lakes Valley Conference leader McKendree 76-69 on its home floor.
Missouri S&T went 19-of-28 from the field in the second half – 67.9 percent – and connected seven times from three-point range as it overcame a four-point halftime deficit and used a strong fourth quarter on both ends of the floor to secure the victory.
The Miners shot 46.7 percent in the opening period and built as much as a six-point lead in the process, going up 17-11 early in in the period on a turnaround jumper by
Morgan Luebbering (Jefferson Ciy, MO/Fatima). S&T cooled off from the field, however, allowing McKendree to work its way back and to take the lead at 24-23 on a Georgia Duncan lay-in at the 3:17 mark.
S&T tied the game again at 26 following a three-pointer by
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) with 1:43 to go in the half, but the Bearcats scored the final four points of the half to take a 30-26 lead to the locker room.
However, S&T opened the second half by scoring the first five points and regained the lead on an
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) three-point basket, then the Miners went on an 8-2 spurt to take a five-point lead after a lay-in by Luebbering. After McKendree cut that five-point advantage to two on a Clare Breden three-pointers, S&T got threes on back-to-back trips down the floor from
Gabi Burgess (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park) and
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) to go back up by six.
The lead was one for the Miners entering the fourth quarter and the Bearcats took the lead twice in the period, only to see S&T answer back on both occasions. McKendree took a 65-63 lead on a three-pointer by Breden, who scored nine straight points for the Bearcats in that stretch, but Kent drilled her fourth three-pointer of the game just 13 seconds later to give the advantage back to S&T.
After forcing a turnover, the Miners got two offensive rebounds on their next possession and
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) scored after the second one to extend the lead. The Miners continued to get the job done on the defensive end in the meantime, holding the Bearcats scoreless for almost four minutes until they pushed the lead to 10 with under a minute remaining.
Roberts had 22 points to pace the Miners and Kent added 14 as S&T finished the game right at 50 percent from the field. The Miners also hit nine three-pointers in the game, four from Kent and three more from Puett, while holding McKendree to a 42.9 mark from the field.
Breden, the second-leading scorer in the GLVC at the start of the day, had a game-high 25 points to lead the Bearcats.
Missouri S&T will host Indianapolis to open a home weekend set on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Gibson Arena.
