Katie McElrathj

Maybe it took a half to get reacclimated with playing a game on their home court, because the Lady Miners' exceptional second half allowed them to take a 77-42 victory over Ouachita Baptist in their home opener Saturday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

UMR led by just four, 33-29, at halftime, but blitzed the visiting Tigers by a count of 44-13 in the final 20 minutes to match its largest margin of victory this season.

After the teams traded the lead for the better part of 11 minutes in the first half, the Lady Miners tok the lead for good at 19-17 on a fast break layup by Josie Polk at the 9:08 mark. UMR pushed that lead out to six on a basket by Katie Bunge two minutes later and eventually took the four-point lead to the intermission.

Ouachita Baptist shot 55 percent in the first half to keep the game close, but the Lady Miners shackled the Tigers after the intermission as they made just five of their 28 field goal attempts (17.9 percent) in the second half.

UMR scored the first seven points of the second half to take an 11-point lead, then gradually extended the lead throughout the period. The Lady Miners had runs of 10-0 and 11-0 during the second half to finish with the 35-point win.

The Lady Miners shot 47.6 percent for the game and outrebounded the Tigers by a 39-28 margin. UMR also forced 25 OBU turnovers and had only 13 itself, with only five of them coming after the halftime break.

Tamara McCaskill led a balanced scoring effort with 15 points while Katie McElrath finished with 12. The Lady Miners also got eight points from Chism McEntire, Lauren Dubbert and Polk, while Jennifer Pena finished with seven points.

UMR (6-2) -- which will be known as Missouri S&T when it takes the floor again -- will resume Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday when its hosts Kentucky Wesleyan in a 5:30 p.m. game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Miners overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to take the lead in the second half Friday night, but Lynn answered the UMR rally with one of its own and came away with a 60-45 win over the Miners in the Pepsi/Doubletree Suites Classic at Lynn.

UMR hung in the game with the Knights for the bulk of the night, but foul trouble and poor shooting for the second night in a row caught up with it as the contest progressed.

After struggling late in the first half, the Miners came out on fire after the intermission as they outscored Lynn 16-1 to open the half. Andrew James hit a pair of free throws at the 15:35 mark to tie the game, then completed a fast break with a layup on the Miners' next trip to give UMR its first lead of the game at 29-27.

After Lynn's Hans Schur tied the game at 32 with 12:07 to go, Marquis Jones gave the lead back to the Miners with 11:43 remaining. That lead was shortlived, however, as Lynn took the lead back for good at the free throw line and extended it to four moments later on a basket by Michael Baptiste.

Justin Taylor's jumper with 5:28 to go got the Miners back to within three at 44-41, but Schur converted a three-point play off a reverse layup on the next trip down for the Knights to get the Lynn lead back to six.

UMR got to within seven with 2:35 left when Aaron Hays knocked down a pair of free throws, but couldn't get any closer as the Knights pushed the margin to its final mark of 15 by scoring the final eight points of the contest.

The Miners shot just 24.1 percent in the opening half and did not score in the final 7:15 after Taurance Townsel's jumper tied the score at 15. The Knights scored 11 straight points after the Townsel basket to close the half with a 26-15 lead.

Hays led the Miners with nine points, while Taylor and Townsel had eight apiece. But the Miners made just 28.3 percent of their shots from the floor and had three players foul out before the night ended.

Lynn finished at 44.7 percent overall, but made only one of its 10 three-point attempts. The Knights, however, outscored the Miners 25-11 at the free throw line.

UMR (3-7), which will be known as Missouri S&T when the new year rolls around, will play its next game under the new name Jan. 3 when it hosts Kentucky Wesleyan in a 7:30 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Twice in the final 23 seconds, Katie Bunge gave the Lady Miners a lead, but St. Mary's was able to answer both of Bunge's late baskets and came away with a 57-56 win over UMR Thursday in the Lady Rattler Christmas Classic.

The Rattlers' Juanita Merchant wrapped up a wild finish -- one where there were five lead changes in the final 36 seconds alone -- by getting behind the UMR defense for a game-winning lay-up with 2.2 seconds to play. That basket came after Bunge had given the Lady Miners the lead with seven seconds remaining, but Rachel Jones took the inbounds pass to the frontcourt and hit an open Merchant under the basket for the game-winner just seconds later.

UMR led for most of the night, building a 26-20 lead at the intermission and holding a six-point lead of 51-45 with 3:38 remaining. However, back-to-back three-point plays by Jones and Mallory Moeller allowed the Rattlers to tie the game at the 2:47 mark.

Bunge gave the Lady Miners lead back when she made the first of two at the line with 57 seconds remaining, but a turnover by UMR gave the ball back to the Rattlers, allowing Ashton Benford to go to the line and make a pair of free throws to give the Rattlers a 53-52 lead with 32 seconds to play.

However, Bunge scored on UMR's next trip down the floor on a lefthanded lay-in with 23 seconds left, only to see Melanie Gamez knock down a short jumper eight seconds later to put St. Mary's back in front 55-54.

UMR went back to Bunge after a timeout and she scored with seven seconds on the clock to put UMR ahead once again. But Jones went quickly up the floor and hit Merchant on the low block for an easy lay-in to produce the winning points. Jaime Forsberg's shot from just inside midcourt was off the mark at the buzzer.

The Lady Miners, who shot 61 percent in Wednesday's win over Texas A&M International, made just 40.4 percent of their shots Thursday and six-of-21 from three-point range. UMR had a 43-32 advantage on the boards over the Rattlers, but also turned the ball over 23 times. St. Mary's shot 33.3 percent for the game both from the field and from three-point land.

UMR (5-2) got 11 points from Tamara McCaskill and 10 from Katie McElrath, while Bunge and Jennifer Pena had nine points apiece in the loss.

The Lady Miners will return to action with their home opener Dec. 29 against Ouachita Baptist at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. Game time will be at 2 p.m.

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BOCA RATION, Fla. -- Cold shooting, particularly at the start of the second half, doomed the MIner basketball team Thursday evening as it dropped a 65-51 decision to Barry in the Pepsi/Doubletree Suites Classic at Lynn University.

The Miners trailed 33-31 at halftime, but missed their first 11 shots and 13 of their first 14 after the intermission, which allowed Barry to expand its lead to 39-31 before Andrew James hit a free throw to stop the run at the 15:39 mark.

After Justin Taylor hit two more free throws to cut the lead to five, the Buccaneers built their lead into double figures for the first time at the 13:23 mark on a fast break layup by Bryan Chiverton.

UMR did not make a shot from the floor in the first 9:37 of the second half unitl Taurance Townsel tipped in a miss.

The Miners got to within eight when Aaron Hays hit a three-pointer with 7:46 to play, then were within nine with 5:54 left after Curtis Mosley made a steal and took it the distance for a layup. However, that was as close as UMR would get down the stretch.

The Miners had leads on several occasions in the opening half, taking an early 8-4 lead on a tip-in by James a little over five minutes into play. A basket by Marquis Jones on his first shot of the season -- he had missed the first eight games with an injury -- gave UMR a 12-11 lead during a stretch where the teams swapped the lead a number of times.

UMR went back up by four on two Justin Taylor free throws with 6:47 left in the half, but the Buccaneers made an 11-4 run over the span of 2:04 to go up by three. A three-pointer by Taylor tied the game, then another three by Hays gave UMR a 29-28 lead with 2:59 to go in the half.

Barry scored five straight to retake the lead before a Townsel basket got the score to the halftime margin of two.

Townsel posted a double-double for the Miners with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Miners, but UMR shot just 25.9 percent in the second half and 31.7 percent for the game. The Miners made only four of their 25 three-point attempts.

Taylor finished in double figures with 11 points and Hays scored eight for the Miners (3-6), who will face Lynn Friday at 6 p.m. (Central time) to wrap up the pre-holiday schedule.

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- A 13-day break in the schedule didn’t slow the Lady Miners down Wednesday night, as UMR lit up the scoreboard for its fourth-highest scoring performance in school history in a 105-78 victory over Texas A&M International in the Lady Rattler Classic at St. Mary’s University.

The Lady Miners blazed the nets at a 61.3 percent clip in the opening half, making 19-of-31 from the floor and 9-of-13 from three-point range to build a 56-34 lead by the intermission. UMR had nine different players scored in the opening half and eventually had all but one of its 13 players end up in the scoring column.

UMR never trailed in the game and went on a 17-2 run after the Dustdevils were within a point at 14-13 with 13:36 to go in the half. Jennifer Pena’s three -point basket, one of the 12 the Lady Miners connected on in the contest, gave UMR a 31-15 lead with 9:41 left in the opening half.

The Lady Miners would eventually build the lead to as much as 27 in the first 20 minutes and led at one point in the second half by 35 at 73-38 with 14:23 to play.

Pena, a Texas native who had 11 of her 13 points in the opening half, was one of six Lady Miners to score in double figures Wednesday. Katie McElrath led the way with 14 -- all of which came after the intermission -- while Chism McEntire had 12 points on four three-point baskets. UMR also got 11 points apiece from Katie Bunge, Josie Polk and Sheena Chadwell as the Lady Miner bench scored 53 of the 105 points.

Jaime Forsberg added nine points and Maria Bratcher eight as the Lady Miners finished the night with shooting percentages of 61 percent from the floor (36-of-59) and 63.2 percent from three-point range (12-of-19).

The 105 points scored by the Lady Miners were their most in a game since Jan. 22, 2000 when they beat Northwest Missouri State 100-90 in overtime. It also marked the first time that they had reached the century mark in regulation time since Nov. 23, 1998 when the Lady Miners posted a 100-49 win over Webber in Florida.

Wednesday’s scoring effort was surpassed by only three games in school history and matched a 105-point effort in a 1989 win over Lincoln. The school record is 109 which was set in 1990 in a victory over McKendree.

UMR (5-1) will face the host school, St. Mary’s, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

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Bridget Williams

The University of Missouri-Rolla volleyball team handed out its post-season awards at an on-campus banquet for its inaugural season, with several players earning honors that were selected by both the team and coaching staff.

Freshmen Ashlyn Balensiefer and Bridget Williams shared "The Rock" award for the 2007 season, while sophomore Lynsey Jorgenson was the winner of the Miner Heart and Spirit Award. Another freshman, Jessica Laughary, was named as the team's most improved player while junior Stephanie Harman was the winner of the Miner Strength Award.

Tory Smiley, a redshirt freshman and true freshman Annie Smith shared the Miner Hustle Award and Kaci Herron received the team's coaches award.

As far as the skill awards went, Williams was the recipient of three of the honors for being the team's top server with a team-high 35 services aces and top defensive player with 505 digs, which ranked sixth in the GLVC. Williams also shared the team's top passer award with Smith as the two finished with the highest grades on the team in that category.

Balensiefer earned the team's top setter award after averaging 9.3 assists per game, while Leandra Pelae was the Lady Miners' top offensive player. The freshman outside hitter finished ninth in the GLVC with her 3.8 kills per game and led the team in hitting percentage for the season.

Jorgenson won the top blocker award with a team-hgih 64 blocks on the campaign.

In their first season, the Lady Miners led the Great Lakes Valley Conference in home attendance, averaging 443 fans per home contest. UMR had two crowds of at least 1,000 fans during the season, including the 13th-best single-game mark of the season with 1,200 spectators at the home opening victory over Drury.

UMR had a total attendance of 5,311 fans in its 12 home matches, the highest net figure in the GLVC for the year.

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Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold was named Thursday to a pair of All-America teams for his play during the 2007 season, making him the first player in the 115-year history of the university's football program to earn All-America honors in three different seasons.

Gronewold, who was selected earlier this week to participate in next month's Valero Cactus Bowl -- a Division II all-star game -- was named to the Associated Press Little All-America first team and to the Daktronics Division II second team after another record-breaking season at UMR. He earned both awards as an all-purpose back.

A regional finalist for the 2007 Harlon Hill Award, Gronewold currently ranks third in NCAA Division II in all-purpose yards as he finished with a school record 2,250 for the year, thanks in large part to his 87 receptions for 1,009 yards and his average of 28 yards per kickoff return as he had 953 yards in that category.

Gronewold was named as the Great Lakes Football Conference's receiver of the year for the second straight season, but was beaten out in the voting for the league's top offensive player by Central State running back Derrick Moss, the GLFC's rushing leader with 1,296 yards.

During the season, he broke the NCAA single-game record with 295 yards in kickoff returns and became the seventh player in Division II history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same game when he brought two scores back for scores against Tiffin.

Gronewold is the holder of nearly every receiving, kickoff return and all-purpose yardage records in school history. He had totals of 278 catches, 3,708 yards and 53 touchdowns. His 58 career touchdowns also included five returns for scores. He also had totals of 1,828 kickoff return yards and 5,992 all-purpose yards which were both UMR records.

Prior to this season, Gronewold had earned post-season All-America honors from Football Gazette in each of the last two seasons and from D2Football.com and the Associated Press in 2006.

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University of Missouri-Rolla softball coach Don Kennedy has announced that three student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play softball at the university, which will be known as Missouri S&T starting on Jan. 1, for the 2009 season.

The three signees during the early signing period in November are Lauren Briggs, an outfield from Knob Noster (Mo.) High School; Lindsey DeForest, a second baseman from North Callaway High School in Kingdom City, Mo.; and Maggie Schroeder, a third baseman from Basehor-Linwood High School in Basehor, Kan.

LAUREN BRIGGS, an outfielder from Knob Noster High School in Knob Noster, Mo.: Briggs earned second-team all-conference honors after the past season, despite playing with a wrist injury throughout the year. She was a pitcher and shortstop at the high school level but will play the outfield for the Lady Miners. She is a slap hitter with good speed who has played with summer league teams in Sedalia (Havoc) and Columbia (Rattlers).

LINDSEY DEFOREST, a second baseman from North Callaway High School in Kingdom City, Mo.: DeForest earned first team all-state honors following the 2007 campaign and has also earned all-district and all-conference laurels after each of the last three seasons. She led North Callaway to a runner-up finish in the Missouri Class 3 state tournament this season and a 25-3 record, hitting .455 with 20 stolen bases. DeForest has also played with the Scrappers summer league team and currently plays for the Diamond Wildcats.

MAGGIE SCHROEDER, a third baseman from Basehor-Linwood High School in Basehor, Kan.: Schroeder was an all-conference selection at the shortstop position last season and is a four-year letterwinner on the varsity level. She has also played for the Kansas City Extreme summer team as a third baseman with a good arm and good speed.

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University of Missouri-Rolla women's basketball coach Alan Eads has announced that three student-athletes from the high school level have signed national letters of intent to play for the Lady Miners in the 2008-09 season.

The three who signed during the early signing period in November all play at the guard position -- Jenny Dorman from Pella (Iowa) High School, Courtney Kemp from Fredericktown (Mo.) High School and Brittany Percival from Hartville (Mo.) High School.

JENNY DORMAN, a 5-7 guard from Pella High School in Pella, Iowa: Dorman, the all-time leading scorer in the history of her school, was named to the all-state first team and Class 3, Region 8 first team for the second time following the 2006-07 season when she averaged 16 points, three assists and three steals per game. She was a 45 percent shooter from three-point range for a team that reached the Class 3A quarterfinals in her junior year. She was also ranked among the state leaders in free throw percentage in each of the last two years, with an average of 87 percent following the 2006-07 season.

A three-time all-conference selection, Dorman has also played on the IBCA All-Iowa Select team and the Iowa Lightning summer squad. She has started in every game of her high school career. She is a member of the school’s branch of the National Honor Society and is a six-semester member of the honor roll at her high school; Dorman plans to major in pre-law.

“Jenny is a shooting guard with good range and one who has shot for a high percentage throughout her career," Eads said. "We’re looking at her as a wing player who can score for us. She has good size for a player at this level.”

COURTNEY KEMP, a 5-9 guard from Fredericktown High School in Fredericktown, Mo.: Kemp is a two-time all-state selection, earning first-team honors following the 2006-07 season, while winning all-conference, all-district and all-region laurels. As a junior, she averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and six steals per game as she shot 54 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range. In her sophomore year, she made 45 percent of her three-point tries and 48 percent of her shots overall in scoring 12.5 points and pulling down 3.2 rebounds a contest.

Kemp, who ranks among the top students academically in her high school class and plans to major in elementary education, also had over four assists and four steals per game for a team that finished 24-5 and reached the Missouri Class 4 quarterfinals. Fredericktown was 24-3 last season.

“Courtney is a very athletic player from an outstanding high school program," Eads said. "She is very quick on both ends of the floor and think she is a player who handles the ball extremely well and can also play at a high level defensively. In addition, she is capable of creating her own shot and can play at either the one or two spot for us.”

BRITTANY PERCIVAL, a 5-9 guard-forward from Hartville High School in Hartville, Mo.: Percival earned first-team all-state honors following her junior season when she averaged 18.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for the Missouri Class 2 state champions. She also averaged more than two blocked shots and two steals per contest. Percival, whose father is her high school coach, was a second-team all-state selection as a sophomore after scoring more than 17 points per game and averaged 15.1 points a contest as a freshman.

Percival, who has scored 1,367 points in her first three high school seasons, has been a first-team all-conference selection in all three years at Hartville and has been part of the KKOZ Dream Team and KJEL all-star in each of those three seasons. She has also earned numerous all-tournament team honors and the Springfield News-Leader’s “Athlete of the Week” awards throughout her career. She ranks near the top of her class academically and will major in biological sciences.

“Brittany is another big, strong player from a strong high school program who can play at one of the wing spots for us," Eads said. "She is very athletic and can shoot the ball very well from the outside, but is also able to post up smaller guards to score. She is also able to create her own shots as well and is a good rebounder at her position.”

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The Miners and Lincoln were tied with under two minutes to go, but it was the Blue Tigers' Jared Boone who hit the big shot down the stretch to give Lincoln a 76-69 win Saturday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Boone broke a 66-all tie with 1:39 to play to put Lincoln up by three, then the Blue Tigers held off the Miners by hitting just enough free throws. Lincoln hit five of its eight free throws in the final 1:04, but the Miners got only a three-point field goal from Aaron Hays during that stretch in their attempt to pull the game out.

UMR led 32-27 at the half despite the Blue Tigers' 53 percent shooting from the field. The Miners, however, held the Blue Tigers to just 15 shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes and had as much as an eight-point lead late in the half.

Lincoln scored the first eight points of the second half and took the lead at 35-32 on a three-pointer by Ryan Spearman at the 18:45 mark. UMR drew even on its next possession on a three by Owain Hall, then the two teams continued to battle on close terms throughout the half.

In a half with nine lead changes, the Miners built a 56-51 lead by the 6:45 mark on baskets by Justin Taylor and a three by Hays. UMR continued to hold that lead until Spearman scored on a fast break layup with 4:43 left to put the Blue Tigers back up 59-58.

Another three-pointer by Hall gave UMR the lead back at 61-59, but Ralph Mata answered with a three of his own to swing the advantage back to LU. The Miners got what turned out to be their last lead of the contest on a three-point play by Taurance Townsel with 3:13 to play to put them up 64-62.

After the Blue Tigers went up 66-64 on a lay-in by Boone with 2:20 to go, Townsel scored inside to tie the game with just under two minutes to go. But on Lincoln's next trip down the floor, Boone got free beyond the arc and drained a shot to put LU up for good.

The Miners were able to get to within three at 72-69 on Hays' three-pointer with 28 seconds to go, but Joseph Hutchingson's two free throws were enough to keep the Miners at bay.

Townsel led the Miners with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Hays posted a career-high with 17 points. UMR also got 11 points from Hall and 10 from Taylor, but shot only 39.7 percent from the field on the afternoon. Lincoln (4-4), which got 17 points from Boone, shot 54.3 percent for the day.

UMR did have its best day of the season from the free throw line by going 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) and outrebounded the Blue Tigers 32-29.

The Miners (3-5) will return to action Dec. 20 when they face Barry in the Lynn Holiday Classic in Boca Raton, Fla.

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Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold's senior season -- and career, for that matter -- have landed him a spot on the roster for the Valero Cactus Bowl, an NCAA Division II all-star game scheduled to take place Jan. 11, 2008 in Kingsville, Texas.

A two-time All-America selection (the 2007 teams will be announced in the near future) and all-region pick from the past season for the Miner football team, Gronewold is one of xx wide receivers representing the West squad on the game that will be viewed by numerous scouts from the National Football League and other professional leagues.

A regional finalist for the 2007 Harlon Hill Award, Gronewold was selected as an all-purpose player after an outstanding senior year as both a wide receiver and kick returner.

Gronewold currently ranks third in NCAA Division II in all-purpose yards as he finished with a school record 2,250 for the year, thanks in large part to his 87 receptions for 1,009 yards and his average of 28 yards per kickoff return as he had 953 yards in that category.

Gronewold was named as the Great Lakes Football Conference's receiver of the year for the second straight season, but was beaten out in the voting for the league's top offensive player by Central State running back Derrick Moss, the GLFC's rushing leader with 1,296 yards.

During the season, he broke the NCAA single-game record with 295 yards in kickoff returns and became the seventh player in Division II history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same game when he brought two scores back for scores against Tiffin.

Gronewold is the holder of nearly every receiving, kickoff return and all-purpose yardage records in school history. He had totals of 278 catches, 3,708 yards and 53 touchdowns. His 58 career touchdowns also included five returns for scores. He also had totals of 1,828 kickoff return yards and 5,992 all-purpose yards which were both UMR records.

The other wide receivers on the West team include Abilene Christian's Jerale Badon, North Dakota's Weston Dressler, Colorado School of Mines' Derek Dressler, Southwest Baptist's Nick Smart and Western New Mexico's Rod Windsor.

Gronewold is the only player from a Great Lakes Football Conference school on either roster for the game that will take place in Javelina Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

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Katie Bunge

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In recent seasons, the Lady Miners have never had an easy time of it when playing against Lincoln – and for a time Thursday night, the game in Jason Gymnasium was taking a similar pattern.

But the Lady Miners were able to use their depth and stronger inside game to wear down the Blue Tigers and came away with a 75-58 victory over their regional rivals to the north.

The Lady Miners saw Lincoln cut a 13-point halftime lead down to eight in the first two minutes of the second half, but regained the upper hand on matters moments later. A putback by Katie Bunge, followed by a steal and layup by Tamara McCaskill gave UMR a 43-32 lead by the 16:41 mark.

UMR got its biggest lead of the game with 10:19 left on a Lauren Dubbert jumper in the lane to give it a 53-36 lead. The closest Lincoln would get after that was 13.

The Lady Miners led for the bulk of the first half and built its lead to 10 by the 10:04 mark on the second of back-to-back three-point baskets by Dubbert. The Lady Miners eventually built their lead to 15 in the final minute of the half before taking a 36-23 lead to the locker room.

McCaskill led the Lady Miners with 18 points, while Bunge finished with 15 and Katie McElrath had 10. UMR shot 50 percent in the second half -- finishing at 47.3 percent overall -- and outrebounded the Blue Tigers 33-30.

Jasmine Washington led Lincoln with 17 points.

UMR (4-1) will return to action Dec. 19 when it faces Texas A&M International in San Antonio.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla women's soccer team was one of several NCAA Division II institutions named as recipients of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America team academic award for the 2006-07 school year.

A total of 409 teams nationwide, covering men's and women's teams from all three NCAA divisions and the NAIA, received the award on the basis of its team grade point average of at least 3.0. UMR was one of 42 schools at the NCAA Divison II level to have its women's team land the award.

The Lady Miner squad was also one of five in the Great Lakes Valley Conference to be honored. UMR was joined in the group by Bellarmine, Indianapolis, Northern Kentucky and Rockhurst.

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Justin Taylor

The Miners turned the tables on their shooting in the second half Wednesday, overcoming a ragged first half to connect on two-third of their field goal attempts -- and six-of-seven from three-point range -- to come away with a 78-69 win over Robert Morris-Springfield at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

UMR made only 35.3 percent of its shots in the opening half while the visiting Eagles were good on 51.7 percent of their tries to build a 37-32 lead at the intermission. However, the Miners set the tone of the second half by scoring the first nine points in a two-minute span to take a 41-37 lead.

After the Eagles caught up at 44 on a layup by Corley Lee with 16:08 to go, the teams swapped the lead for the next three minutes. UMR trailed 56-55 before Owain Hall's three-pointer at the 12:43 mark trigged a decisive 15-0 run that gave UMR a 70-56 advantage by the 8:16 mark.

The Miners were able to break the game open with a pair of three-pointers by Justin Taylor and baskets by Aaron Hays, Andrew James and Hall to build their biggest lead of the night. During the course of the run, the Miners forced nine consecutive missed shots from the field from the Eagles.

Taylor in particular heated up in the second half as he scored 20 of his game-high 25 points after the intermission, including connecting on all four of his three-point attempts. UMR also got 15 points apiece from Hall and Hays, as the three Miner guards combined to go 19-of-37 from the floor and hit nine of the Miners' season-high 10 three-pointers.

Taylor also surpassed the 20-point mark for the third straight game, the first Miner to do so since Jermaine Burks had five straight 20-point outings to close the 2004-05 campaign.

UMR made 16 of its 24 second half shots (66.7 percent) to finish the night at 48.3 percent. It also held the Eagles, who were led in scoring by Tyler Moretto with 19 points, to 33.3 percent after the break and 41.5 percent for the night while outrebounding the Eagles 43-32.

The Miners (3-4) will host Lincoln in a 2 p.m. game Saturday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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The men's and women's soccer teams at the University of Missouri-Rolla will host a three-day youth camp prior to the holiday season at the Student Recreation Center on the UMR campus.

The camp, which will take place Dec. 18-20, is open to all players ages 3-12 and will allow players to work on developing fundamentals in a fun environment. The campers will be grouped based on their age and ability.

The Kiddie Kickers camp for children ages 3-5 will take place from 4:30-6 p.m. on those nights and the cost will be $30. The Miner youth soccer camp for those ages 6-12 will run from 6-7:30 p.m. on those nights at a cost of $40. There is a $10 discount for two or more children from the same family.

Both camps are limited to the first 50 who sign up.

All participants will receive a camp shirt. Those taking part will need to bring a soccer ball, shin guards, a water bottle and appropriate footwear, either tennis shoes or indoor soccer shoes.

For more information, contact UMR men's soccer coach Joe Ahearn at (573) 341-4102 or women's coach Jon Kiester at (573) 341-7032.

Click here for camp information

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The UMR swimming team got an 11th national qualifier Saturday for the NCAA Division II Championships in the process of winning the Arkansas-Little Rock Invitational.

Two winning performances Saturday night, including a victory in the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay, allowed the Miners to finish 47 points ahead of defending national champion Drury in the two-day meet. UMR posted a total of 638 points to Drury's 591. Missouri State finished third with 558 points and Western Kentucky, who beat the Miners in a meet two weeks ago, finished fourth.

The Miners' 11th national qualifier was David Calcara, who earned a berth in the 200-yard breaststroke. Calcara's time of 2:04.92 in the preliminaries earned him the spot along with the 10 who had qualified on Friday for the national meet that starts March 12 in Columbia, Mo. The junior finished third in the finals of the 200-breaststroke behind teammate Zlatan Hamzic, who had a school record time of 2:03.70.

Matt Hug earned a victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.98 Saturday night, a time that fell under the automatic mark in the event. David Sanchez-Turner took third in 1:43.15 after a 1:42.35 in the preliminary round and Kyle Gordon came in seventh in 1:45.54.

UMR also had a winning effort from its 400-yard freestyle relay team of Mark Chamberlain, Sanchez-Turner, Gordon and Hug with a time of 3:03.61.

Kyle Kammer recorded a second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.45 in the finals, while Jeff Enge finished third in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:54.28.

Sanchez-Turner took fourth and Gordon finished fifth in the 100-freestyle, with Sanchez-Turner posting a time of 46.21 in the finals and Gordon a mark of 46.51.

The Miners also saw their 200-medley relay team finish under the qualifying standard as Kammer, Hamzic, Chamberlain and Gordon posted a time of 1:33.07 to finish fourth. Brian Howell was sixth in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:54.92.

Miners qualify 10 on opening day in Little Rock

On Friday, the Miners got 10 of their individuals qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in the opening sessions of the invitational.

Friday’s performances were highlighted by a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke by freshman Hamzic, who won the event in a time of 56.76 seconds. Earlier in the day, Hamzic made his automatic qualifying time with a mark of 56.68 in the event.

UMR also got a second place showing from Hug in the 500-freestyle in 4:31.12 to earn him a berth to the national meet, while Danny Murphy, and Kammer also earned automatic spots and had third place showings in their respective events.

Murphy took third in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:05.10, but his preliminary time of 4:01.86 was well below the standard for nationals.

Kammer reached his automatic time in the preliminaries as well as he posted a school record mark of 1:50.43 in the 200-yard backstroke before taking third in the finals. Enge also made the national meet with his time of 1:51.55, just clearing the standard by 0.04 seconds.

The Miners got an automatic qualifying time from all three of its relay teams that competed Friday. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Gordon, Chamberlain, Sanchez-Turner and Hug, as they recorded a time of 1:23.32 to finish second in the event, while the 800-free quartet of Murphy, Gordon, Andrew Trowbridge and Hug recorded a time of 6:51.31 to make the automatic cut and finish third in the race.

UMR’s 400-yard medley relay team of Kammer, Hamzic, Paul Reinisch and Sanchez-Turner also reached the qualifying standard with a time of 3:24.55 to finish sixth in the race.

Among the other top finishers for the Miners Friday were Gordon, who was third in the 50-freestyle, Enge (sixth in the 400-individual medley), Sanchez-Turner (sixth in the 50-freestyle), David Calcara (sixth in the 100-breaststroke), Trowbridge (seventh in the 500-free), Chamberlain (seventh in the 100-butterfly) and Reinisch (eighth in the 100-butterfly). Zach Lemons also finished eighth in the 400-IM.

Complete results from UALR Christmas Invitational

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Owain Hall

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Quick starts to both halves sent the Miners to a loss Saturday, as Indianapolis handed UMR its third straight loss by the score of 84-53 at Nicoson Hall in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.

The Miners fell behind right out of the gate, as Indianapolis scored on its 11 of its first 14 possessions to take a 24-7 lead by the 11:32 mark. The Miners closed that gap to nine a little over two minutes later after consecutive three-point baskets by Aaron Hays, Justin Taylor and Owain Hall.

UMR was able to hang in the game during the first half thanks to its three-point shooting, as it made five-of-eight from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes. But the Greyhounds got off to a fast start to open the second half as well, putting the first 13 points on the scoreboard before Hall knocked down a three to halt the run.

The Greyhounds, who improved to 6-0 with the win and 2-0 in GLVC play, pushed the lead out even farther as the half went on.

The Miners were led by Taylor with 22 points, while Hall finished with 15. The Miners shot just 35.3 percent in the game and made eight-of-18 from three-point range. UIndy’s Justin Barnard led all scorers with 26 points as the Greyhounds made 52.4 percent of their shots.

UMR (2-4, 0-2 GLVC) will open a two-game homestand Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against Robert Morris-Springfield, a team it beat 67-62 a week ago in St. Louis.

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Tamara McCaskill

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Lady Miners were unable to overcome a sluggish first half and dropped their first game of the season Saturday afternoon, as Indianapolis knocked off UMR 64-57 at Nicoson Hall.

UMR was guilty of 10 turnovers and shot only 25 percent in the opening half and found themselves staring at a nine-point deficit at the break. The Lady Miners never led in the first half and had the game tied on two occasions, the last at 11 on a lay-in by Tamara McCaskill with 9:50 to go.

The Greyhounds followed by scoring the next eight points before Chism McEntire’s three-pointer halted the run at the 6:36 mark.

UIndy extended its lead to 12 late in the first half before a McCaskill three-pointer cut the margin to the halftime score of 27-18.

The Lady Miners started cutting into the lead early in the second half from long range, as three-pointers by McEntire and Katie McElrath allowed UMR to get to within four at 29-25 three minutes into the half. After the Greyhounds got the lead back to nine, a 6-0 UMR run capped by a fast break layup by Lauren Dubbert made it 34-31 at the 13:32 mark.

But every time the Lady Miners would draw closer, the Greyhounds got the ball in the hands of Karla Mast, who scored 22 of her game-high 29 points after the intermission.

The Greyhounds (5-0, 2-0 GLVC) hit three-pointers on three straight possessions – two by Mast – to build their lead back to nine at the five-minute mark. UMR got close again, trimming the lead to four on a putback by Katie Bunge at the 3:53 mark but UIndy was able to hold off the Lady Miners in the final minutes.

McCaskill led UMR with 16 points while Jaime Forsberg had 10, but the Lady Miners had 23 turnovers in the contest and shot only 37.7 percent from the floor.

UMR (3-1, 1-1 GLVC) will face Lincoln Thursday in a non-conference game in Jefferson City, Mo. Game time will be at 7 p.m.

Posted by John Kean at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)