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| 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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