SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Missouri S&T Women's Basketball fell to Illinois Springfield 56-63 on Thursday evening.
The Prairie Stars won a low-scoring first quarter 12-10. S&T took a 6-4 lead midway through the quarter thanks to a layup from
Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville). After UIS tied it up, they took an 8-6 lead, later followed by a 12-10 advantage to end the quarter.
In the second quarter, UIS outscored S&T 17-16 for a 29-26 lead at halftime.
Morgan Luebbering (St. Thomas, MO/Fatima) gave the Miners a 15-14 lead and
Anna Finley (Owensville, MO/Owensville) drained a three-pointer to make the score 20-16. Illinois Springfield drained a three-pointer of their own and eventually took a 25-22 lead. Roberts brought it within one point, but UIS made two free throws to end the half.
UIS had their best quarter of the night as they won the third 23-12. A 9-0 run in the first three minutes of the half gave them a 12-point lead.
Franchesca Metz (Downers Grove, IL/Nazareth Academy) brought it down to nine points but two straight UIS three-pointers made the score 51-36. The Stars led 52-38 after the third quarter.
The Miners attempted a comeback in the fourth but just came up short. A 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the game made it a five-point game.
Norah Gum (Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) tallied seven of those nine points. UIS made two free throws at the end of the game to make the score go final at 63-56.
Gum led the team with 15 points, while she also added five rebounds. Finley tallied 14 points and two steals. Metz picked up 10 points and three rebounds, while Roberts collected eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Luebbering grabbed six rebounds.
As a team, Missouri S&T shot 37.7% from the field and 5-for-20 from three-point range. They recorded 35 rebounds but had 18 turnovers. Collectively, they had 32 points in the paint in a game that featured five ties and eight lead changes.
S&T dropped to sixth place in the GLVC following the loss, one spot above Maryville and right below McKendree.
What's Next
S&T will conclude their road trip at McKendree on Saturday at 1 p.m. Following that game, they will come back home to play Lewis on Jan. 30 and Indianapolis on Feb. 1.
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