KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Miners pulled off a nail-biter victory in overtime against the Bulldogs today, winning 70-64.
Franchesca Metz (Downers Grove, IL/Nazareth Academy) recorded her first double-double as a Miner, scoring 20 points and picking up 10 rebounds.
1st Quarter:
The Miners began the scoring around the eight minute mark as both teams scored on the next six straight possessions, matching each other shot for shot and bringing the score to 7-7. The Miners trailed for the first time all game when Truman hit a three at 5:53, but would tie the game again just over two minutes later off a layup by Metz. S&T briefly reclaimed the lead at 15-13, before the Bulldogs tied the game for the sixth time in the quarter. The Miners held the Bulldogs scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, pulling ahead 19-15 as the initial quarter ended.
2nd Quarter:
Truman State's Ellie Weltha scored six points in the opening 90 seconds of the second as the Bulldogs hit buckets on their first four possessions of the quarter to take a 23-20 lead over the Miners. A layup by
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) would bring the Miners within one point again, but Truman responded with a triple to take their largest lead of the quarter. After a timeout by Coach
Kira Carter,
Addyson Kent (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) hit a three to cut the Bulldogs lead to one again. Truman continued their scoring though, pulling ahead by six. Kent caught fire from the three though, hitting another two as the Miners closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room up 34-33.
3rd Quarter:
The Miners first possession of the half was kept alive by a couple of offensive rebounds, leading to a three from the top of the key for Metz. A few possessions later,
Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) hit a couple of free throws to extend the Miners lead to 39-33. Later, a three-pointer and a layup in transition for Truman cut the Miners lead to one at 41-40. Metz responded by hitting a three and drawing an offensive foul, which would lead to a tech on Truman's Maddie Niemeier. Kent hit both technical free throws to extend the Miners lead to 46-40. The scoring dried up as neither team could find a bucket. A pass inside by Roberts to
Morgan Luebbering (Jefferson Ciy, MO/Fatima) broke the scoring drought at 3:47. Layups by Metz and Roberts made the Miners lead twelve at 53-41. The Bulldogs ended the third with a five-point run to make it 53-46 heading into the final quarter.
4th Quarter:
The Bulldogs extended their scoring run to seven as the Miners struggled to find the bottom of the net early in the fourth. A three from Kent would end S&T's drought and begin a five-point run as the Miners pulled ahead by ten. A flopping technical on Puett led to a four-point possession for the Bulldogs and brought the score to 58-52. The Miners would go back up by ten again after a layup by Roberts and two free throws before the Bulldogs hit a wide open three in transition to make it 62-55 with 4:03 left on the clock. Coming out of a Truman timeout, the Bulldogs hit another three and a layup to draw within two of S&T and prompt a time out from Coach Carter. After an empty possession for the Miners, Truman's freshman Molly Joyce made a layup to tie the game at 62-62 with thirty seconds left. S&T called another timeout to advance the ball and draw up a plan for the last possession. The ball went to Metz off the inbound, who dribbled it out at the logo to burn time. At six seconds the Miners ran one last play to try and hit a buzzer beater, Metz passed inside to Puett at the free throw line who drove strongside to the basket. Puett had the ball stripped away as she went up to take the shot though, allowing time to expire with the score tied.
Overtime:
At the tip, Roberts tapped the ball to Kent to give the Miners the first possession of the extra period. S&T came up empty on their first two possessions but so did the Bulldogs, allowing the Miners to retake the lead and end an almost seven-minute scoring drought off a layup by Roberts. Truman tied the game a couple possessions later off a fast-break layup by Weltha. On the ensuing trip down the court,
Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep) had two critical offensive rebounds to keep the Miners possession alive, leading to a layup by Roberts to give the Miners a two-point lead just under two minutes to play. After an empty possession by each team, the Miners found themselves up by two with less than a minutes to play. Truman's Joyce made a left side drive to the basket but stout defense by Metz prevented her from getting a good shot off, with Puett gathering up the rebound. With less than half a minute to play, the Bulldogs were forced to foul Metz, who made both free throws to make it a two-possession game at 68-64. Metz came up with a big steal off the ensuing inbounds play by Truman, demoralizing the home team and forcing the Bulldogs to foul the rest of the way, leading to a 70-64 win for the Miners.
Metz's 20 points led the team, followed by 18 for Roberts, and 14 for Kent. S&T also had their fewest turnovers of the season with 10, only turning the ball over twice in the first half. As expected, Truman's turnover troubles were a key factor, as they committed 19, leading to 22 points off turnovers for the Miners.
The Miners return to Rolla for their final homestand of the season, hosting Drury and Southwest Baptist.
