Katie Bunge

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- In danger of seeing its winning streak fall one game short of the school record, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team used a surge over the final 14 minutes of the game to secure a 67-60 victory Thursday at Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Down 46-37 in the second half, the Lady Miners outscored SIUE 28-14 over the final 14 minutes to win for the tenth straight time and for the 15th time in 17 games. S&T tied the school record for the longest winning streak -- set by the 1986-87 Lady Miners -- with the tenth win in succession and is 15-2 for the first time in the program's history.

S&T opened the game by scoring on its first two possessions of the night, but then went into a drought that lasted over five minutes which allowed the Cougars to take a lead they would hold for the duration of the half.

Katie Bunge’s basket at the 4:24 mark drew the Lady Miners back to within three after SIUE had been up by nine, but the hosts – who shot 44.8 percent in the first half – pushed the lead back out to six at 35-29 by the intermission.

The Cougars pushed the lead back to nine in the first five minutes of the second half after a pair of free throws by Amy Austin, but a three-pointer by Chism McEntire and back-to-back treys by Lauren Dubbert, the last at the 12:03 mark, drew the Lady Miners even at 46.

S&T then got its first lead since the early going 35 seconds later on a layin by Katie McElrath, then extended the scoring run to 14 when McEntire hit another three.

SIUE tied the score on a basket by Amber Shelton and a three by Whitney Sykes, but a putback by Dubbert at the 8:12 mark put S&T back in front.

Dubbert’s basket, which made it 53-51, started the Lady Miners’ decisive 12-2 run, which saw the lead end up at 63-53 after McElrath hit two free throws at the 2:29 mark.

McEntire led the Lady MIners with 17 points, while Dubbert had 13 points off the bench. Bunge had 12 points and 14 rebounds for her third straight double-double and Tamara McCaskill had 11 points in her return to her hometown.

The Lady Miners will play at Quincy Saturday in a 5:15 p.m. contest. Quincy (12-6, 7-3 GLVC) knocked off Missouri-St. Louis 92-78 Thursday night.