S&T Athletics
Claire Johnson, Assistant Sports Information Director
BOLIVAR – The Miners finished the weekend on the road at Southwest Baptist (2-8, 2-8 GLVC) today. While S&T fought until the very end, SBU would get an overtime offensive push to claim the 92-86 win.
The Bearcats and Miners traded baskets to open the game, looking at an 11-11 score with five minutes left in the first quarter.
S&T would break away from SBU with a 6-0 run that was capped with a three-pointer from Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and gave the Miners a 17-11 lead. S&T would get their largest lead of the quarter after Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) screened off the baseline for Shanice Uwase (Portland, Ore./Westview)for a lay-up and a made free-throw to put them up 22-13.
SBU would add in two made free-throws at the end of the quarter to cut the Miners lead to 22-15 heading into the second quarter.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) pushed the Miner’s lead back out to nine to open the second quarter with back-to-back made free-throws. But, SBU came charging back, adding in a three-pointer from Natalie Basham and a lay-up from Sydney Bandy to get within four of S&T.
The Miner’s shooting didn’t lag in the quarter, getting three made three-pointers from Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy), Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones), and Marta Durk (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township) to get up 37-30 with 3:18 remaining in the half. From that point, the Bearcats would finish the half on an 11-4 run to make it a 41-41 game going into halftime.
Both teams played dead even with each other in the third quarter, neither one getting more than five points ahead of the other.
After Kyleigh Vaught from SBU drained a three-pointer from the corner to give the Bearcats a 60-57 lead, Marta Durk (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township) answered right back with a three from the far wing to tie the game back up at 60. The teams would take that 60-60 score into the fourth quarter of play.
It would be another dog fight in the fourth quarter between the teams, going down to the wire.
While both teams kept it close, S&T would take a late 78-75 lead after Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South)grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it back in with 58 seconds left on the clock. SBU would catch a break with a three-pointer from Kyleigh Vaught with 47 seconds left in the quarter to tie the game again.
In the final seconds of the fourth, both teams saw opportunities to take the lead, but neither could get shots to fall and would be sent into overtime with a score of 78-78.
S&T held on to the lead in overtime through the first three minutes after Marta Durk (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township) found Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) under the basket for an easy lay-up. But, SBU would get a five-point swing on back-to-back possessions with a made free-throw from Kyleigh Vaught and a four-point play from Mary Rose Foster to put the Miners down 86-82 with 1:27 remaining.
The Bearcats had an answer for S&T’s last two baskets, both coming from Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones). SBU would seal the deal with a lay-up from Regan Tibbits and two free-throws from Mary Rose Foster in the final seconds of the game to hand the Miners the 92-86 loss.
Laura Rodirguez had a career day with 32 points while going 11-19 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc. She also had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) went a perfect 5-5 from the field today and added in seven made free-throws to chip in 17 points. The junior also recorded three blocks and six rebounds.
Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and Marta Durk (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township) were the other two Miners to score in double figures today, adding in 13 and 11 points, respectively. Keys went 3-4 from behind the three-point line while Durk recorded eight rebounds.
Every player who played for S&T today scored.
As a team, Missouri S&T (2-11, 2-11 GLVC) shot an outstanding 57.7% from the field and went 10-19 from behind the three-point line.