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| Lauren Dubbert |
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T women's basketball team scored the final nine points of the game Friday to knock off Michigan Tech 75-66 for the program's first-ever victory in the NCAA Division II Tournament and earn a spot in Saturday's semifinals.
The Lady Miners, the third seed in the regional, improved to 23-6 on the year with the win and will face Great Lakes Valley Conference member Quincy, an 82-73 winner over Hillsdale, Saturday at 6 p.m. in Drury's Weiser Gym.
S&T led for most of the second half and held a six-point lead at 66-60 with 3:48 to play. However, back-to-back three-pointers by Katie ZImmerman allowed the Huskies to draw even by the 2:03 mark.
But on the Lady Miners' next trip down the floor, Chism McEntire drilled a three of her own to put the Lady Miners up for good at 69-66, then S&T forced a turnover on MTU's next possession to turn the game into a free throw shooting contest. The Lady Miners were up to the task, sinking all six attempts in the final 50 seconds to lock up the victory.
"We won a lot of close games this year," Missouri S&T coach Alan Eads said. "We were fortunate to win today."
Missouri S&T couldn't buy a shot at the start of the game and fell behind by as much as 11 points in the first half. But the Lady Miners eventually found their groove, thanks to the shooting of Katie McElrath and Chism McEntire, and took their first lead on a three by McEntire at the 4:05 mark of the first half.
Michigan Tech took the lead back by the intermission at 33-30 and held onto the advantage until Lauren Dubbert knocked down a three with 14:29 to go to put S&T up 43-42.
Tamara McCaskill scored at the eight-minute mark to put the Lady Miners up 58-51, then with a little more than three minutes left to play, Jaime Forsberg picked the pocket of a Michigan Tech player and lead a break. Forsberg found Katie Bunge under the basket for a basket that put Missouri S&T up 66-60 lead before MTU got the threes from Zimmerman to draw even with just over two minutes to go.
"We always come back and make it a game," McElrath said. "Today we got over the hump."
Missouri S&T, making just its second appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, shot 56.7 percent after the break and finished the game at 46.7 percent. The Lady Miners had four players in double figures, led by Katie McElrath with 21 points and Bunge with 14. S&T also got 12 points from McCaskill and 10 from McEntire.
S&T also had a 36-28 advantage on the boards and forced 16 Michigan Tech turnovers, including three after McEntire's basket gave the Lady Miners the lead.
Zimmerman led Michigan Tech (23-8) with 19 points while Katie Wysocky finished with 16.
(Information for this story also provided by Lance Feyh, Missouri S&T Public Relations)
(Photo by John Anderson)
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