MONTICELLO, Ark. -- The Lady Miner softball team brought its hitting shoes to Arkansas Friday, knocking out 16 runs in two games to post a pair of victories in the Arkansas-Monticello Classic.

Missouri S&T opened the day by beating the host Cotton Blossoms by a count of 7-4, then beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff in five innings 9-1 on the strength of four home runs.

In the first game Friday, the Lady Miners fell behind 2-0 in the opening inning but cut the lead in half in the second when an error allowed Emily Tucker, who had doubled to start the frame, to score.

UAM got that run back in the bottom half of of the inning, but the Lady Miners took the lead for good by scoring three times in the third. A one-out hit by Krista Porterfield was followed by a walk to Kandi Wieberg, then Kelsey Musselman delivered a two-out single to score Porterfield. Tucker then doubled home two to put S&T up 4-3.

Musselman led off the fifth with a home run, then Becky Davis delivered a two-out run scoring single to extend the Lady Miner lead. S&T got an insurance run for starting and winning pitcher Ashley Wallingford when an error on a hit by Coley Naughton allowed Tucker to come home.

Wallingford allowed seven hits and struck out four in a complete game effort. Tucker had four hits for S&T, including three doubles, while Musselman had two hits and two runs batted in.

Later in the day, Wieberg hit a leadoff homer to get the Lady Miners started in the rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. S&T was then able to bust the game open and get freshman Kristen Drage her first collegiate victory by exploding for five runs in the fifth.

The Lady Miners got back-to-back-to-back home runs from Rachel Wilkinson, Musselman and Tucker to start the scoring, then Katie Smith ended the game with a two-run double to give S&T the eight-run advantage and the victory.

The Lady Miners (4-2) will face Arkansas Tech and Ouachita Baptist Saturday.

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Justin Taylor

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- For a time Thursday, it looked like the Miner basketball team had designs on ending its season with a bang, as it led Southern Indiana for a good portion of the first half.

However, the host Screaming Eagles -- who are still scrambling to earn a spot in next week’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament -- held Missouri S&T without a field goal over the final 7:54 of the first half and finished the first 20 minutes on a 25-2 run to break loose from S&T, going on to a 76-55 win in PAC Arena despite a career night from Miner guard Justin Taylor.

The Miners took an early 6-0 lead and kept the advantage for most of the first 12 minutes, moving ahead 21-17 on a layup by Aaron Hays with 7:54 to play in the half. A foul away from the ball on the play kept the ball with the Miners, but the inbounds pass was stolen and the possession eventually led to points for the Eagles.

At the 5:47 mark, Nick Duncheon knocked down a three-point to put USI up 22-21 and the Eagles ran off 17 more points before Taylor, who had 13 of S&T’s points in the first half, hit two free throws with nine seconds to go in the half to get the Miners back on the board.

The Eagles led 42-23 at the half, then built the lead up over 30 points before the Miners trimmed it down to the final margin of 21.

Taylor finished with a career-high 35 points in the loss, going 12-of-19 from the field and hitting all six of his three-point attempts. Taylor also led the Miners with eight rebounds as he posted the most points by a Miner since the 2004-05 season finale when Jermaine Burks scored 38 at Northwest Missouri State.

The loss ends the Miner season with a 3-24 overall record and 0-19 mark in the GLVC.

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Chism McEntire

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Missouri S&T had a tough time throwing the knockout punch in the second half, but another solid shooting night was more than enough to send it home for an opening round game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

The Lady Miners knocked off Southern Indiana 71-61 in PAC Arena Thursday night to tie the S&T single season record for wins and more importantly, lock up a home game Tuesday night in the first round of the conference tournament.

S&T (21-5, 15-4 GLVC) will play the third place team from the GLVC East Division -- which will be determined after league play is completed Saturday -- at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

After Southern Indiana got out to an early lead, the Lady Miners ran off seven straight points near the midway point of the first half and grabbed their first advantage in the process on Katie Bunge’s lay-in at the 10:51 mark. S&T eventually built its lead to as many as 10 points before the Eagles closed to within three at 32-29 at the intermission.

But any hope USI -- a team that had already been eliminated from the GLVC playoff race -- had of pulling off an upset was put in jeopardy right out of the gate when the second half began. The Lady Miners scored the first 11 points of the half, which included a pair of three-pointers from Chism McEntire, to give them a 14-point lead in the first four minutes of the period.

The Eagles got the lead down to five on a layup by Jasmine Baines with 6:23 to play, but eventually S&T got the lead back over 10 when Tamara McCaskill made a steal to lead to a three-point play with 2:43 remaining for a 65-54 lead.

The Lady Miners shot 58.7 percent from the field in the game -- their fifth game in the last six in which they have made at least 50 percent of their shots -- and got 18 points apiece from McEntire and McCaskill. In addition, Bunge recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

S&T was 6-of-13 from three-point range, with McEntire connecting four times in five tries.

The 21 wins the Lady Miners have accumulated this season ties the mark set by the 1995-96 team that finished at 21-7.

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Katie Bunge

After spotting Missouri-St. Louis a basket on its opening possession of the night, the Lady Miners started running...and running...and running.

Missouri S&T would eventually run UMSL right out of the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building, blowing out to a 24-point halftime lead and rolling to a 79-49 win to move one step closer to hosting a first round game in next week's Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

With the victory -- the 20th of the season for S&T -- all the Lady Miners have to do to wrap up a home game next Tuesday in the conference tournament is to win Thursday at Southern Indiana, which would lock up second place in the GLVC West Division.

Taylor Gagliano hit a three-pointer for UMSL on its first trip down the floor Tuesday, then the Lady Miners cranked up the pressure on defense and with their fast break. S&T scored 27 of the next 29 points after the Gagliano three, moving ahead 27-5 by the 9:39 mark of the first half on a three-pointer by Jennifer Pena.

UMSL had just two field goals in the first 13 minutes of the game, as S&T forced 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and scored 18 fast break points during that stretch, either off steals or missed shots. The Lady Miners finished the evening scoring 44 points in the paint as well.

S&T had four players in double figures as head coach Alan Eads was able to get plenty of playing time for everyone with Thursday's game on the horizon. Reserve guard Josie Polk led the way with 12 points, while Tamara McCaskill and Katie McElrath finished with 11 points apiece and Katie Bunge with 10.

The Lady Miners outrebounded the Tritons 49-39 -- Bunge and Lauren Dubbert had seven boards each -- while Jaime Forsberg dished out six assists and Chism McEntire had five.

Missouri S&T improved to 20-5 overall and 14-4 in the GLVC as it reached the 20-win mark for just the second time in the history of the program. The Lady Miners will face USI Thursday at 5:15 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.

(Photo by Seth Sowers, Rolla Daily News)

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Justin Taylor

For a time Tuesday night, it appeared that the Miner basketball team was poised to break into the win column in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, as they had a seven-point halftime lead over Missouri-St. Louis and a 10-point advantage with 13:29 to go.

But a victory wasn't in the cards for the Miners, as the Tritons erased that deficit and held off Missouri S&T's last-ditch effort to leave the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building with a 74-71 win in S&T's final home game of the 2007-08 season.

The Miners made an 11-4 run to end the first half with a 42-35 lead, shooting 51.6 percent from the floor in the opening half and connecting on six-of-11 from three-point range. After UMSL closed the gap to one early in the second half, S&T built its lead back up again and moved ahead 52-43 when Justin Taylor zipped a pass to Curtis Mosley in the corner for a three-pointer.

Moments later, Aaron Hays hit the first of two free throws to give S&T its biggest lead of 10 at 53-43 with 13:29 to go, but the Tritons answered by scoring nine points over the next 1:44 to draw to within one. UMSL eventually got the lead back on Nathan Whittaker's driving layup with 9:03 to go to make it 58-57.

S&T drew even again at 61 on a lay-in by Mosley with 6:08 to go, then got even again at 67 when Taylor hit a pair of free throws at the 2:20 mark. However, Whittaker knocked down a three from the wing 24 seconds later to put UMSL up for good.

The Miners had one last chance to tie the game after Tim Green made one of two at the line with 13 seconds to play, but Taylor's three-point try was off the mark in the final moments.

Taylor led the Miners with 20 points, while Mosley finished with 18 and Taurance Townsel with 11. S&T shot 44.1 percent from the floor in the game, but made only 36 percent in the second half and just one three-pointer in 12 tries.

The Tritons, who were playing their third road game in four days, were led by Paul Paradoski with 22 points.

Missouri S&T will close its season Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game against Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind.

(Photo by Seth Sowers, Rolla Daily News)

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Taylor Hahn

Jamie Statler

Two Missouri S&T pole vaulters who set a school record in the event and reached the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard in the process are the co-recipients of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Field Athlete of the Week" in women's track and field.

Juniors Taylor Hahn and Jamie Statler, both of whom cleared 11-5 3/4 -- the provisional qualifying standard -- Friday at the Central Missouri Classic in Warrensburg, Mo. The clearances that established the new school record in the event earned them each a third place finish in the event.

Hahn is from Salem, Ill., while Statler hails from Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Mo. They currently boast the top mark in the GLVC this season and will head to Crawfordsville, Ind., Saturday for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships.

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Missouri S&T women's soccer coach Jon Kiester has announced that six players have signed national letters of intent to play soccer for the Lady Miners in the 2008 season.

This year's recruiting class includes two players each from the states of Missouri and Illinois, as well as players from Texas and Kansas. The signees are as follows:

SABRINA DRENNAN, a 5-9 defender-midfielder from Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, Mo.: Drennan played on a high school team last season that finished as the Missouri Class 3 runner-up, as she recorded three goals and five assists for 11 points. Two of her goals in the 2007 spring season were game-winning tallies. An honorable mention selection in the MWAA White Conference, Drennen has also played club soccer with the Missouri Premier team for coach Sterling Wescott. She plans to major in business at Missouri S&T.

SHELLY EKHOLM, 5-6 midfielder from Cy Springs High School in Houston, Texas: Ekholm is a four-year letterwinner who earned first-team all-district honors in each of the last three seasons. She was selected as her team's offensive most valuable player in 2006 and as her team's "Rookie of the Year" following her freshman year. In addition, she led her club team, the Westside Quest Stars in assists and finished as the team's second-leading scorer. She has been involved in numerous groups at her school, including the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Ekholm plans to major in architectural engineering.

HEATHER FERSTL, a 5-7 midfielder from Burlington Central High School in Elgin, Ill.: Ferstl was a three-time all-conference performer at the high school level and has led her team to two conference titles. She had five goals and four assists during the 2007 season for 14 points after scoring four times with four assists in 2006. Her high school team has gone 18-0-2 in conference play over the last two seasons. Ferstl has played club soccer for the KUFC Tempest squad in the Midwest Regional League. Ferstl plans to major in civil engineering.

PAIGE SMOTHERS, a 5-3 defender-midfielder from Marion High School in Marion, Ill.: Smothers is a two-time all-league selection in the South Seven Conference as as defender and has been one of the team's top offensive players from that position. She earned honorable mention all-section honors as well during her prep career. Smothers has played on the SMSC Sweepers club team for coach Justin McMullen and has also been a part of the Metro United team in the Super Y league. A member of the school's branch of the National Honor Society and Math Honor Society, Smothers plans to major in either civil or mechanical engineering at Missouri S&T.

LEAH WILLIAMS, a 5-6 forward from Free State High School in Lawrence, Kan.: Williams has been named to the Kansas Class 6A all-state team in each of the last two seasons, while also earning two all-region awards and three all-conference awards in the Sunflower League. Williams has also played club soccer with the Topeka Select Galaxy. She is ranked first in her academic class and has been a member of the school's branch of the National Honor Society as well as the principal's honor roll. Williams plans to major in engineering at Missouri S&T.

MELISSA YOUNG, a 5-9 midfielder from Helias High School in Jefferson City, Mo.: Young was an honorable mention all-state selection following the 2007 season in Missouri Class 2 while also earning all-region and all-district honors. Young, who led her team in scoring last season, has been a part of the Missouri Olympic Development program and has played club soccer with the Carrera Soccer Club for coach Paul Pitchford. She is ranked in the top 10 percent of her academic class and plans to major in engineering at Missouri S&T.

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Kelsey Musselman

Kelsey Musselman's fast start to the 2008 season has earned her the first Great Lakes Valley Conference "Player of the Week" award in softball which was announced Monday.

Musselman, a senior third baseman for the Miners, helped S&T to a split of its four games over the weekend at the Charger Chillout in Decatur, Ala., by hitting .545 in the four games. She had five runs batted in, three runs, two home runs and a double, finishing the weekend with a .667 on-base percentage and 1.182 slugging percentage.

She had five of her hits in the two Lady Miner victories, a 13-10 win over Delta State and 7-4 triumph over 23rd-ranked Georgia College & State. Musselman had home runs in each of those games.

The Lady Miners return to action Friday when they play in the Arkansas-Monticello Classic.

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DECATUR, Ala. -- The Lady Miner softball team closed out their opening weekend with a split of its four games at the Charger Chillout, including a victory Sunday over 23rd-ranked Georgia College & State.

Missouri S&T used three home runs to knock off the Bobcats 7-4 in the first of its two games on the day, but it lost the final game of the weekend set 11-2 to West Georgia.

The Lady Miners busted open a close contest in the fifth inning with a four-run outburst with two outs. After Becky Davis led off the inning with a hit, Kandi Wieberg drew a two-out walk. Rachel Wilkinson followed the walk by hitting a three-run homer to give the Lady MIners a 5-0 lead, then Kelsey Musselman homered right after the Wilkinson blast to give S&T a six-run lead.

Coley Naughton added a solo homer in the sixth to back the pitching of Ashley Wallingford, who allowed two runs over six innings of work to get the win and improve to 2-1 on the season.

Musselman had three hits in the game, including a double, while Wilkinson had two hits.

In the West Georgia contest, S&T fell behind 6-0 after two innings of play before getting on the scoreboard with Katie Smith's RBI single in the fourth. The Lady Miners got their other run on a homer in the fifth from Wieberg, but the Wolves ended the game with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth.

Freshman pitcher Kristen Drage took the loss for S&T, which will return to action Friday at the Arkansas-Monticello Classic.

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DECATUR, Ala. -- After scoring just one run in its season opener Saturday, the bats for the Missouri S&T softball team came to life in the second game of the day as the Lady Miners rallied for a 13-10 victory over Delta State at the Charger Chillout.

Earlier in the day, 15th-ranked Valdosta State handed the Lady Miners a 9-1 loss in their opener.

In the win over Delta State, S&T got on the board right away as second baseman Kandi Wieberg led off the game with a home run. Later in the inning, Kristen Drage drove home a run with a ground out to stake herself to a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Miners then exploded for five runs in the second, all of them coming with two outs. Back-to-back hits from Becky Davis and Becca Kueny opened the frame, then Rachel Wilkinson singled after the next two batters were retired to bring home Davis. After Kelsey Musselman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Emily Tucker drew a walk to bring home the second run of the inning.

Drage was walked to score another run, then Coley Naughton singled home two more runs to give S&T a 7-0 lead.

The Statesmen got three runs back in the third, then after Musselman homered in the top of the fourth to make it 8-3, Delta State knocked Drage out of the game with a seven-run outburst in its half of the inning.

The Lady Miners came back in the fifth with another rally that started with two outs to get the lead back. After the first two hitters were retired, pinch-hitter Katie Smith singled and Wieberg drew a walk. Wilkinson followed with a run-scoring double to bring S&T to within one, then back-to-back RBI singles by Musselman and Tucker gave the Lady Miners an 11-10 lead.

S&T added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Wilkinson and an run-scoring hit by Tucker.

Wilkinson and Tucker had three hits and three runs batted in during the contest; the Lady Miners had 17 hits as a team. Ashley Wallingford, who entered the game in relief in the fourth, got the victory in the circle.

In the earlier game, Valdosta State tagged Wallingford for a run in the third, then scored six times in the fourth to take control of the contest. The big blow in the inning was Alex Acosta's grand slam, one of four home runs hit by the Blazers.

The Lady Miners got their only run on a solo homer by Naughton to lead off the fourth, one of her three hits in the game. Tucker had two hits for the Lady Miners as well.

S&T will face Georgia College & State and West Georgia Sunday.

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Katie Bunge

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Lady Miners' furious comeback effort Saturday fell short, as Drury held off Missouri S&T's rally from a 19-point halftime deficit to come away with a 89-75 win in Weiser Gym.

The loss all but relegates S&T to playing for the second seed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s West Division, as it sits a game and a half behind the Lady Panthers with two games to go. Drury will wrap up the top seed from the GLVC West with a victory Sunday over Missouri-St. Louis based on its sweep of S&T this season.

S&T, which still holds a one-game lead over Quincy in the division for second, can lock up the No. 2 seed with wins over UMSL and Southern Indiana next week. The Lady Miners will host UMSL Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The Lady Miners never led in the contest, but were within one at 8-7 after a three-pointer by Jaime Forsberg at the 15:51 mark. Drury ran off nine straight points to extend its lead to 10 before Lauren Dubbert’s three-pointer ended a three-minute scoring drought for S&T.

However, the Lady Miners turned the ball over 12 times in the opening half and Drury shot 50 percent from the floor to eventually take a 51-32 lead into the intermission.

S&T was able to close the margin down to 13 in the early part of the second half, then got it down to single digits when Sheena Chadwell connected on a pair of free throws at the 13:43 mark.

Drury extended its lead back to 12 before the Lady Miners started chipping away again, drawing to within three on a three-pointer by Chism McEntire with 7:28 to play. Moments later, McEntire had a chance to tie the game but was off the mark on a three, then Drury got the lead back to nine over the next two minutes.

The Lady Miners were able to get the lead down to six three different times after that, but a technical foul on S&T allowed Drury to get the lead back to 10 with just over two minutes to go.

Katie Bunge led the Lady Miners with 20 points and was one of four S&T players in double figures. Tamara McCaskill and Dubbert had 12 points apiece, while McEntire added 10. The Lady Miners shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 52.2 percent, their fourth straight game with a shooting percentage of at least 50 percent.

Molly Carter, who had 30 points in the first meeting between the teams that Drury won in overtime, matched that total to lead all scorers Saturday.

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Justin Taylor

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Miners were no match Saturday for the nation’s seventh-ranked team, as a hot-shooting Drury team ran past the Miners 113-76 in Weiser Gym.

The Panthers scored the first seven points of the contest and never looked back, shooting 62.5 percent in the first half to build a 25-point lead of 61-36 by the break. Drury finished the game at 57.8 percent from the field and connected 15 times from three-point range.

S&T shot 52.6 percent itself in the opening half, but was plagued by 13 turnovers which led to numerous easy scoring chances for the Panthers. Drury finished the day scoring 34 points off of the Miners’ 18 turnovers.

The Miners had four players end up in double figures, led by Justin Taylor with 24 points. S&T also got 15 points from Owain Hall, 13 from Curtis Mosley and 10 from Aaron Hays as it finished the game at 46.8 percent from the field.

Steven Gum, who hit six three-pointers for the Panthers, and Collins Harris led all scorers with 23 points.

The Miners (3-22, 0-17 GLVC) will close out their home schedule Tuesday when they face Missouri-St. Louis in a 7:30 p.m. game at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Missouri S&T saw two of its pole vaulters reach the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard Friday night during the competition at the Central Missouri Classic.

Taylor Hahn and Jaime Statler both cleared the 11-5 3/4 mark -- breaking the school record in the process -- to become the first Lady Miners this season to reach an NCAA qualifying standard. Hahn finished third in the event Friday while Statler placed fourth.

Two other pole vaulters, Leah Moreland and Sarah Zaremba, also recorded top 10 finishes as Moreland was fifth at 10-6 and Zaremba placed eighth with that same clearance.

The only other S&T competitor in action Friday, Kierra Handley, finished seventh in the 800-meters with a mark of 2:23.87.

The Lady Miners will take part in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Results from Central Missouri

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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- A number of Missouri S&T track and field competitors were in action Friday in a final tuneup meet before next weekend's Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships.

Most of the contingent from the Miner track team was at the Central Missouri Classic, where the top finisher was Brendan Smith in the 800-meters with a time of 1:56.19. Smith finished 1.4 seconds out of first in his race.

The Miners also got a third place finish from Peter Hollenbeck in the pole vault with a mark of 14-9, while Dan Hellwig finished sixth at 14-3 1/2.

Throwers Josh Hesse, Jeremiah Johnson and Lucas Jaster were also in action at UCM, with Hesse posting marks of 45-11 1/4 in the weight throw and 42-4 in the shot put, Johnson a 44-7 1/2 in the shot and Jaster recording marks of 43-4 1/2 in the shot put and 41-5 3/4 in the weight throw.

Freshman Brandon Etzold took part in the 800-meters Friday at Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb., finishing seventh in his race with a time of 1:56.19.

The GLVC Championships take place March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Complete results from Central Missouri

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Missouri S&T Swimmers: 2007-08 NSISC Champions

The Missouri S&T swimming team had seven individuals named to the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships and also had its head coach named as the "Coach of the Year" after the Miners won the NSISC meet last weekend.

Head coach Doug Grooms was named as the top coach after leading the Miners to the team title by nearly 100 points over Ouachita Baptist. The individuals who earned the all-conference honors included Zach Lemons, Dustin Spieker, Matt Hug, Andrew Trowbridge, Kyle Gordon, David-Sanchez Turner and Jeff Enge.

Hug and Gordon won conference titles at the meet, as Hug took the title in the 500-yard freestyle and Gordon captured the title in the 200-yard freestyle where he edged out Sanchez-Turner in the finals.

The Miners also had a number of individuals earn academic all-conference honors. Those named were Mitch Berggren, David Calcara, Mark Chamberlain, Jeff Enge, Zlatan Hamzic, Austin Kelley, Zach Lemons, Paul Reinisch, Dustin Spieker, Rory Swift and Andrew Trowbridge.

Missouri S&T will be sending 13 individuals to Columbia, Mo., in March for the NCAA Division II Championships.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Miner basketball team trailed by only three at the half Thursday night, but a slow start to the second half allowed Rockhurst to extend the lead into double figures and it went on to post a 0-0 victory over Missouri S&T at Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse.

The Miners started out well, jumping out to a 9-4 lead and holding the advantage for the better part of the first 12 minutes. Curtis Mosley did much of the scoring for S&T in the first 20 minutes as he scored 15 of the 29 points, including three three-pointers.

However, after Taurance Townsel had tied the game with a lay-in with 27 seconds left in the half, Rockhurst’s John Torson converted a three-point play just before the period ended to give the Hawks a 32-29 halftime lead.

The Hawks built on that lead in the early part of the second half, extending the margin to 10 by the 10:15 mark on a fast break basket by Alden Smith. S&T got the lead down to six a couple of minutes later on a basket by Mosley, but the Hawks made another mini-run and got the margin out to 14 when Smith drained a three with just under six minutes remaining.

Mosley scored a career-high 22 points in the loss, while S&T also got 12 points from Justin Taylor and 10 from Aaron Hays. However, the Miners made just 36.8 percent of their shots in the game and were outrebounded by the Hawks 39-29.

Missouri S&T (3-21, 0-16 GLVC) will face seventh-ranked Drury Saturday at 1 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With Saturday’s game at Drury looming, the Missouri S&T women’s basketball team made sure to take care of one matter of business before taking their shot at the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division lead -- beating Rockhurst Thursday night.

The Lady Miners used an early run to take control of the contest and went on to defeat the Hawks 70-52 at Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse, moving to within a one-half game of idle Drury for the lead in the division.

The Lady Miners shot 60.7 percent from the floor -- 17-of-28 -- in the opening half and built as much as an 18-point lead in the first 20 minutes before taking a 41-26 lead to the locker room.

Rockhurst opened the game by taking a 10-5 lead, but S&T rattled off the next 15 points to go up 20-10 and never looked back. Tamara McCaskill’s jumper at the 14:47 mark put the Lady Miners in front. McCaskill and Katie McElrath combined to score 18 of S&T’s 41 points in the opening half.

After the Lady Miners pushed their lead out to 25 in the early stages of the second half, Rockhurst got hot from three-point range and closed the gap to 12 with just over seven minutes to go on a three-pointer by Amy Hake.

Following Hake's second straight trey that made it 59-47, the Lady Miners got the game back into their control on a basket by Katie Bunge and a three-pointer by Chism McEntire to extend the lead to the eventual final margin of 18.

McEntire led a balanced scoring effort with 14 points, while McCaskill finished with 13 and McElrath and Lauren Dubbert posted 10 points apiece. Dubbert posted her first double-double of the year as she also pulled down 10 rebounds.

The Lady Miners shot 50 percent from the floor, marking the third straight game they have made at least 50 percent of their field goal attempts.

Missouri S&T (19-4, 13-3 GLVC), which has already clinched a berth in the GLVC Tournament, will play sixth-ranked Drury (21-2, 13-2 GLVC) at 3:15 Saturday at Weiser Gym in Springfield.

Posted by John Kean at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Missouri S&T women's basketball team remained in third this week in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes regional rankings that were released Wednesday.

The Lady Miners, 18-4 on the season, held their spot after picking up a pair of wins last week, including a two-point victory over a Quincy that is currenly eighth in the region.

Missouri S&T trails Drury -- whom it will face Saturday in Springfield, Mo. -- and Hillsdale in this week's rankings. Ferris State is ranked fourth this week, followed by a quartet of teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference in Northern Kentucky, Indianapolis, Bellarmine and Quincy.

Northwood and Michigan Tech round out the top ten this week.

Despite dropping an overtime contest last week to the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes region, the Missouri S&T women's basketball moved up one spot in the new regional rankings released Wednesday.

Missouri S&T, which will play at Rockhurst Thursday before the showdown with Drury, also received 25 votes in this week's WBCA/Division II national poll, earning the second-highest total for teams not in this week's Top 25.

NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Rankings
(February 20, 2008)
1. Drury
2. Hillsdale
3. Missouri S&T
4. Ferris State
5. Northern Kentucky
6. Indianapolis
7. Bellarmine
8. Quincy
9. Northwood
10. Michigan Tech

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Tamara McCaskill

For the second time this season, Tamara McCaskill has been named as the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Player of the Week" for her performances in a pair of Missouri S&T victories last week.

The junior forward from Edwardsville, Ill., averaged 19.5 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 68.2 percent from the field (15-of-22), leading the Lady Miners in scoring in both victories that kept them one game behind Drury in the GLVC West Division.

In S&T's 75-73 victory over Quincy, McCaskill scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to help it rally to a key win over the Hawks; Quincy entered the game one game behind S&T in the standings. She was seven-of-11 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while adding five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

On Saturday, McCaskill had 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field with two three-pointers, five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. She hit both of her three-pointers during the course of S&T's decisive 22-2 run to start the second half of an eventual 72-48 win over Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

McCaskill was previously named as the league's "Player of the Week" in January after Lady Miner victories at Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis. The Lady Miners have earned three such awards this season, as Katie Bunge also landed the GLVC's weekly award a week after McCaskill was named the first time.

Missouri S&T, currently 18-4 overall and 12-3 in the GLVC, returns to action Thursday when it plays Rockhurst in Kansas City, Mo.

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CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Missouri S&T swimming team wrapped up their second straight New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships title Saturday night, getting several high finishes and another national qualifier to win the team title by nearly 100 points.

Although the Miners didn't win any of the races Saturday, they did post three second place finishes and five thirds and finished the meet with 830 1/2 points, well ahead of the 733 posted by Ouachita Baptist.

One of the runner-up finishes came from freshman Aaron Schmidt in the 200-yard backstroke as he posted a time of 1:51.55 in the finals. Earlier in the day, Schmidt reached the finals with a time of 1:50.68 to become the 13th member of the team that will head to Columbia, Mo., next month for the NCAA Division II Championships.

Schmidt was one of four Miners to finish among the top seven in the 200-backstroke, as Jeff Enge was third in 1:52.62, Kyle Kammer was fifth in 1:54.74 and Rory Swift placed seventh in 1:56.61.

The Miners also got a second place effort from Zlatan Hamzic in the 200-yard breaststroke with an impressive time of 2:04.92 -- which fell under the automatic mark in that event -- and Andrew Trowbridge in the 1,650-freestyle in 15:53.41.

Matt Hug took third in the 1,650-free in 16:04.12 and Danny Murphy was seventh in that event in 16:32.73. In the 200-breaststroke, David Calcara finished fourth in 2:07.49 and Mitch Berggren was eighth in 2:11.83.

The Miners' other third place finishes on an individual basis Saturday came from David Sanchez-Turner in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.18 seconds and Zach Lemons in the 200-butterfly where he posted a time of 1:53.33.

S&T also had a sixth-place finish from Dustin Spieker in the 200-butterfly in 1:55.82, followed by Brian Howell in 1:55.96. In the 100-free, Kyle Gordon took seventh in 47.19 seconds and Mark Chamberlain was eighth in 47.56 seconds.

The Miners also had a third place showing from its 400-yard freestyle relay team of Chamberlain, Gordon, Hug and Sanchez-Turner, with a time of 3:05.60 that fell below the automatic qualifying standard in that event (all four swimmers had already qualified for nationals).

Missouri S&T's next competition will take place at the NCAA Division II Championships, which begins March 12 at the Mizzou Aquatics Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Saturday's results

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Chism McEntire

After a number of recent contests with nail-biting finishes -- the most recent being two nights earlier -- the Lady Miners took the drama out of Saturday's game in the first ten minutes of the second half.

That was just fine with MIssouri S&T women's basketball coach Alan Eads.

Leading by eight at halftime, the Lady Miners outscored Southern Illinois Edwardsville 22-2 to start the second half to bust the game wide open and cruised to a 72-48 Great Lakes Valley Conference win on Senior Day at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

S&T held SIUE to just one field goal in the first 10:27 of the half, turning a 28-20 halftime lead into a 50-22 rout. Meanwhile, the Lady Miners connected on 66.7 percent of their shots after the break, including four three-pointers and finished the game at 54.4 percent.

The Cougars had one lead in the game -- a 15-13 advantage after Amber Shelton hit a three-pointer with 8:54 left in the first half -- but the Lady Miners came right back and got the lead for good on a lay-in by Katie Bunge at the 7:21 mark and built the margin to as much as nine in the opening half.

Chism McEntire hit a driving layup 14 seconds into the second half, setting the tone for the next ten minutes of play as the Lady Miners shut down the Cougars and began building the lead, with the run concluding on two free throws by McEntire at the 9:46 mark.

Tamara McCaskill and Katie McElrath had six points apiece during the course of the run and finished the day as the Lady Miners' top scorers with 20 and 10 points, respectively; McElrath also had 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

The Lady Miners had good balance in the scoring column as Sheena Chadwell had eight points and McEntire and Josie Polk finished with seven apiece. Defensively, the Lady Miners held SIUE to 27.5 percent shooting for the day and held Shelton, the GLVC's top scorer, to 16 points and just two in the second half.

S&T (18-4, 12-3 GLVC) stayed one game behind Drury in the GLVC West Division and two games ahead of Quincy. The Lady Miners will return to the floor Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. game against Rockhurst in Kansas City.

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JOPLIN, Mo. -- Missouri S&T junior Jordan Henry continued his run of strong performances in the pole vault by winning the event Saturday at the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University, while Brandon Etzold had a strong showing in the 800-meters a few hundred miles north.

Henry, who has won the last two Great Lakes Valley Conference "Athlete of the Week" awards and who made the NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark a week ago in the event, cleared that mark again Saturday by going over the bar at 16-6 to win the competition. Three others -- all with ties to the host school -- also went over at 16-6 but Henry had fewer misses to end up on top.

In Ames, Iowa, Etzold posted a school record time of 1:53.95 in the 800-meters in an event that included a number of runners from the NCAA Division I ranks.

The Miners' other top finishes Saturday at MSSU came from Thomas Green, who took second in the mile with a mark of 4:29.16 and Paul Roland, who also finished second in the 800-meters in 1:58.97. Kal-El Waters-Jones had a fifth place mark in the triple jump at 46-4 which put him near the NCAA Division II provisional mark.

The Miners got a sixth place showing from Brandon Cundiff in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:18.02, while Kevin Thompson was 10th in 1:18.30. Thomas Sands was 10th in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.96 seconds and Chris Teel was 12th in the 800-meters in 2:03.63.

Peter Hollenbeck and Dan Hellwig tied for 10th in the pole vault as both cleared 14-8 1/4 and Lucas Jaster came in 13th in the shot put with a mark of 44-11 1/2.

S&T also got a time of 3:37.22 from its 4x400-meter relay team.

At Iowa State, the Miners had three other distance runners taking part in the Iowa State Classic, with the top finish coming from Brendan Smith in the mile with a time of 4:23.40 for a 19th place finish. Allen Ernst had a time of 4:27.16 in the event as well, while Kurt Schauwecker posted a mark of 9:17.80 in the 3,000-meters.

The Miners' next meet will be the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, set for March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Complete results from Missouri Southern
Complete results from Iowa State

Posted by John Kean at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T women's track team has seven finishes in the top ten Saturday -- most of which set or matched a seasonal best -- on the final day of the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University.

The top S&T finishes Saturday came from the pole vaulters, as Jaime Statler placed second with a clearance of 11-1 3/4 and Taylor Hahn who cleared the same height to take third (based on more misses in the competition). The clearances matched the seasonal best for both Statler and Hahn.

The Lady Miners also got a sixth place finish from Leah Morehead in the event at a mark of 10-8 and an eighth place effort from Sarah Zaremba at 10-2.

Katie Bruce came in fifth place in the 400-meters with a time of 1:00.06, with Aubrey Moore finishing two spots behind her in 1:00.51. Moore was also 14th in the 60-meter dash in 8.19 seconds. Meanwhile, Kierra Handley took sixth in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:30.55.

Hannah Terwelp came in 11th place in the shot put with a mark of 38-2 while Rebecca McNally finished 15th in the 3,000-meters in 11:54.49. The Lady Miners' 4x400-meter relay team placed seventh in the event with a time of 4:09.22, a drop of nearly 11 seconds from their previous best time of the season.

The Lady Miners' next competition will be at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, slated to take place March 1 in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Complete results

Posted by John Kean at 08:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Miner basketball team allowed its second fewest number of points in a game this season, holding Southern Illinois Edwardsville to 58 Saturday afternoon at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Unfortunately, the Miners had trouble scoring as well and ended up on the wrong end of the final result, as the Cougars came away with a 58-46 victory in the Great Lakes Valley Conference contest.

The Cougars built a seven-point halftime lead by hitting 56 percent of their shots in the opening half. Missouri S&T had a four-point lead of 14-10 after a pair of free throws by Justin Taylor at the 12:24 mark, but SIUE scored the next the next eight points and never trailed again.

An 11-4 spurt by SIUE allowed it to build the halftime margin, then it came out and build the lead up to 20 points in the first nine minutes of the second half, doing most of the damage from long range as it hit five three-pointers during that stretch.

The Miners held the Cougars to 37.5 percent shooting in the second half, but made only 31.6 percent of their own shots for the afternoon.

Taylor led the Miners with 13 points and Aaron Hays finished with 11 and a team-high eight rebounds. Taurance Townsel had five blocked shots in the contest for the Miners.

S&T (3-20, 0-15 GLVC) will return to action Thursday when it faces Rockhurst in Kansas City in a 7:30 p.m. game.

Posted by John Kean at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- A strong performance on the third night of the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships has pushed the Missouri S&T swimming team into the lead in the competition with one night remaining.

The Miners claimed the top two spots in the 200-yard freestyle and had 12 individuals finish among the top eight in events Friday, as well as seeing its 800-yard freestyle relay team take third and the B-relay in the same event win the consolation race to give S&T a sizeable advantage in the team standings.

Freshman Kyle Gordon won the 200-free by a narrow margin over teammate David Sanchez-Turner, as Gordon finished in 1:43.13 to Sanchez-Turner's 1:43.15. The Miners also got a second place showing from another freshman, Zlatan Hamzic, in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.47 seconds.

The Miners went 3-4-5 in the 100-yard backstroke finals Friday, as Aaron Schmidt came in third in 52.22 seconds, Brian Howell in fourth with a mark of 52.45 and Kyle Kammer fifth in 52.68. Rory Swift also won the consolation finals in 53.48 seconds.

In the 400-yard individual medley, Dustin Speiker was one of three Miners to finish among the top eight as his time of 4:05.80 was good for fourth place. Jeff Enge came in fifth in 4:06.63 and Danny Murphy was eighth in 4:09.87. The Miners also got a win in the consolation finals of the event as well as Zach Lemons won that race in a time of 4:05.92.

The other top eight finishes Friday were recorded by Kammer in the 100-butterfly in 51.79 seconds, which put him in seventh place, Mark Chamberlain in that same event in 51.84 and David Calcara in the 100-breaststroke with an eighth place mark of 59.04 seconds.

The team of Enge, Sanchez-Turner, Howell and Matt Hug finished third in the 800-free relay with a time of 6:54.52, while the B-relay group of Andrew Trowbridge, Murphy, Spieker and Chamberlain finished ninth in 7:01.47.

S&T's performance Friday put it 44 points in front of Ouachita Baptist heading into the final day of competition, as the Miners have 555 1/2 points to OBU's 510 1/2. Both teams are over 100 points ahead of third place Delta State.

Friday's results

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JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T men's track and field team has competitors at two meets this weekend, with the majority of the squad taking part in the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern.

On the first night of competition, the highest finish came from Charles Melton in the 200-meters where he took fifth place in a time of 22.76 seconds. The Miners also got a ninth-place effort from Michael Wilson in a time of 23.35 and a 17th place finish from Brett Vessell in 23.69 in an event with 37 finishers.

Josh Hesse finished 12th in the weight throw with a mark of 44-9 1/2, while Jordan Henry had a leap of 21-4 in the long jump and Kal-El Waters-Jones went 20-8 1/2 in the event and Peter Hollenbeck jumped 20-1. Lucas Jaster posted a mark of 40-4 1/4 in the weight throw.

In Ames, Iowa, the Miners had two competitors taking part in the distance events Friday at the Iowa State Classic. Joffroi Holcombe posted a time of 15:09.93 in the seeded 5,000-meter run, while Grant Brown finished the unseeded 5,000 in 15:46.30.

Friday's results

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JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Lady Miner track and field team had a handful of competitors in action Friday at the Radio Shack Invitational at Missouri Southern State University.

The top finish of the night was recorded by Hannah Terwelp, where she improved on her school record mark in the event with a seventh place finish. Terwelp posted a mark of 48-2 in the event Friday.

Kendra Lewis finished ninth in the 200-meters with a time of 26.78, while Aubrey Moore was 11th in 26.95. The Lady Miners also got times of 27.32 from Katie Bruce and 27.40 from Hillary Griffith in the event.

Sarah Stach finished 12th in the long jump with a seasonal-best mark of 16-2 1/2, while Rebecca McNally posted a time of 11:54.49 in the 3,000-meters to finish 14th.

The meet at Missouri Southern will conclude Saturday.

Posted by John Kean at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Megan Remley

Missouri S&T has announced the hiring of Megan Remley, who has served as an assistant coach at Southwest Baptist University for the last two seasons, as the new assistant coach for the Lady Miner volleyball program.

Remley takes over for Heather Roberts, who resigned last month to accept a similar position at Colorado School of Mines.

"I am happy to have Megan joining us," said Missouri S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin. "Her experience and enthusiasm will be a positive addition to our outstanding coaching staff."

"One of the things that attracted me to this program is that it is still brand new," Remley said. "It is a program with plenty of room to grow. Having been a player and coach at the Division II level, I know the level of play and what we need to do to help build this program to compete at the highest level."

"I am extremely excited about hiring Megan as our new assistant coach here at Missouri S&T," said Lady Miner head coach Jason Holt. "We couldn’t ask for a better person to come in and help me continue the building of this new program. Megan brings a wealth of both playing and coaching experiences that will be so invaluable to the continual development of our players.

"She has a tremendous amount of knowledge, enthusiasm and drive for what she does and I really believe she will be quite successful here as assistant volleyball coach, both with me and with the team," Holt added. "I'm looking forward to getting Megan started."

Remley, a native of Kearney, Mo., played her collegiate volleyball at Truman State University and was part of two teams that reached the NCAA Division II Championship game. She was a three-time all-conference selection as a middle hitter and right side hitter and helped lead the Bulldogs to three Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season titles and four tournament championships.

The Truman State teams that Remley played for reached the national championship game in 2002 and 2004 and also reached the national quarterfinals in 2003.

Remley received her bachelor's degree from Truman in 2006 in exercise science and has been working on her master's degree in education at SBU while assisting the volleyball program.

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The Lady Miners went through another tense moment at the end of a game Thursday, but this time, they made the defensive play to preserve a critical Great Lakes Valley Conference victory.

Leading by two after Lauren Dubbert missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11 seconds to go, Missouri S&T prevented Quincy's leading scorer, Jessica Keller, from getting a shot off and forced her to turn the ball over in the final seconds to hang on for a 75-73 victory over the Hawks at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

The win allowed the Lady Miners to gain a split of the season series with Quincy and extend their advantage to two games over the Hawks in the GLVC West Division with five games remaining in their quest to host a first round home game in the conference tournament.

The victory, however, didn't come easy by any means.

S&T had an eight-point lead of 33-25 after a basket by Lydia Karlefors with 3:33 left in the half, but the Hawks rattled off 14 straight points to take a six-point lead before Jennifer Pena's three-pointer with 19 seconds to go before the intermission brought the Hawk lead down to 39-36 at the half.

The Lady Miners finally got the lead back on a three-point play by Tamara McCaskill at the 13:53 mark and never trailed again after that, but had a tough time shaking the visitors who were able to stay within five points for the next 12 minutes.

Quincy forged four ties during that span, but the Lady Miners had an answer each time. Whintae Irby's baseline jumper with 6:08 to go tied the score at 63, but a short jumper by Katie Bunge put S&T back in front and a three-pointer by Dubbert moments later gave the Lady Miners their biggest lead since the first half at 68-63 with 4:45 left.

S&T was able to extend a three-point lead to six with 1:26 to go on a third chance basket which led to a three-point play by McCaskill. The Hawks closed to within four on a Megan Gavlick basket, then Katie McElrath hit the first of two at the line with 34 seconds to go to make it 75-70.

Alex Roznowski brought Quincy to within two by sinking a long three-pointer with 15 seconds to go, then the Hawks fouled Dubbert with 11 seconds to play. The junior guard missed the free throw, but the Lady Miners were able to bottle up Keller as she tried to find a path to the basket.

Keller tried to pass the ball out as time was running out, but her pass was intercepted by Pena to preserve the win.

S&T connected on 53.6 percent of its shots in the contest (30-of-56) and had four players in double figures, led by McCaskill with 19 points. Bunge finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double in the last seven games, while McElrath had 13 points and Pena finished with 12.

Keller and Janette Burgin had 17 points apiece for the Hawks, who scored 33 points off of 25 S&T turnovers. The Lady Miners, however, had a 38-33 advantage on the boards and held Quincy to 40.9 percent from the floor.

The Lady Miners (17-4, 11-3 GLVC) will host Southern Illinois Edwardsville Saturday at 1 p.m.; the team's five seniors will be honored prior to the start of Saturday's game.

Posted by John Kean at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Missouri S&T swimming team is still in second place after the second day of the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships at Delta State University.

The Miners did capture their first individual title of the meet as Matt Hug claimed first in the 500-yard freestyle with a winning time of 4:32.97. S&T also got a third place finish in the event from Andrew Trowbridge in 4:39.82.

Zach Lemons also had a third place finish Thursday in the 200-individual medley with a time of 1:55.92. S&T had three other finishers among the top seven in that event as Jeff Enge was fifth in 1:56.38, Dustin Spieker was sixth in 1:56.89 and Rory Swift took seventh in 1:56.96.

David Sanchez-Turner finished sixth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.52 seocnds, while Mark Chamberlain was seventh in 21.70 and Kyle Gordon eighth in 21.73.

The Miners also had a fourth place finish from their 200-yard freestyle relay team of Gordon, Chamberlain, Sanchez-Turner and Hug as they posted a time of 1:25.21. S&T's 400-medley relay team took ninth as the quartet of Enge, David Calcara, Lemons and Hug posted a mark of 3:27.75.

The Miners are currently 23 points in back of Ouachita Baptist in the team standings, but have put some room between themselves and third place Delta State as they have a 53 1/2 point lead over the Statesmen at the midway point of the meet.

The meet continues Friday.

Thursday's results

Posted by John Kean at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Taurance Townsel

For the second time in 12 days, the Miner basketball team had a solid second half performance against Quincy University -- but it wasn't enough to overcome the hole it fell into during the first 20 minutes.

The Miners fell behind by 18 points by the end of the first half and ended up on the short end of a 68-55 decision Thursday to the Hawks in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Missouri S&T outscored Quincy 41-36 after the intermission as it shot 55.6 percent from the floor after the break. But it was the Miners' struggles from the field during the first half that put them in the 18-point deficit, as they made only three-of-23 from the field during that span and had only one made field goal in the first 17 minutes of play.

For a good stretch of the first half, the Hawks were struggling for points as well, but they got the lead into double figures with 6:08 to go in the half and eventually led 32-14 at the break.

The shots started to fall for the Miners after the intermission, as they trimmed a one-time lead of 27 points down to 14 after a tip-in by Taurance Townsel at the 9:38 mark. S&T would later get the lead down to 11 with just over a minute to play before ending up falling by 13.

Townsel led the Miners with 17 points on the evening as he made eight of his nine field goal attempts, while Curtis Mosley finished with 11.

The Miners will host Southern Illinois Edwardsville Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

(Photo by Rod Lentz)

Posted by John Kean at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CLEVELAND, Miss. -- The Missouri S&T swimming team sits in second place after the first day of the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships at Delta State University, getting a strong effort from its distance freestyle competitors on the opening night.

S&T currently sits five points behind Ouachita Baptist in the team standings, due to a disqualification of a Miner relay team in the 200-yard medley relay. The Miners have 81 points to OBU's 86 after day one, with Truman State sitting in third place with 77.

But the bigger news of the night for the Miners came when junior Brian Howell made the automatic qualifying time in the 200-yard butterfly, posting a time of 1:52.72 in a time trial to give S&T its 12th national qualifier for next month's NCAA Division II Championships. The Miners had three others taking part in time trials Wednesd