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| Katie Bunge |
The Lady Miners let a 12-point second half lead out of their grasp, but regained the advantage moments later and didn't let it go to earn a berth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference semifinals Saturday afternoon.
After Bellarmine erased the lead to tie the contest at 61 with just over four minutes to go, the Lady Miners were able to make enough key plays down the stretch to come away with the 70-65 win in the opening round contest Tuesday at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.
The victory, a school record-breaking 22nd on the season, sends Missouri S&T into the semifinal round where it will take on Northern Kentucky (21-7) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Drury University in Springfield. The Norse used a game-ending 17-0 run to oust Southern Illinois Edwardsville 68-56 Tuesday.
Drury and Indianapolis will square off in the other semifinal contest.
S&T (22-5) came into the game as the fourth-ranked team in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage, but struggled for much of the night from the floor as it hit just 38.8 percent of its shots. But a strong game from its front line proved to be the difference in the game.
The Lady Miners got a big first half from Katie Bunge, as she recorded a double-double by the intermission to help S&T build a nine-point lead by halftime. Bunge's three-point play just before the half ended gave S&T its halftime margin.
S&T pushed its lead into double figures early in the second half and led by as many as 12 after a lay-in by Katie McElrath with 10:08 to go to make it 55-43. However, the Knights went on an 18-6 run over the next six minutes and tied the score at 61 on a driving lay-in by Angela Smith.
McElrath hit a jumper from just inside the foul line on the Lady Miners' next trip down the floor to put them back in front, then they retained the lead after Smith hit one of two at the line.
The Lady Miners got to four at the line as McElrath hit a pair and Bunge hit one of two before Smith knocked down an open three with 2:41 to make it 66-65. The teams then went scoreless for over two minutes until Tamara McCaskill sunk a turnaround jumper in the lane with 30 seconds on the clock and just before the shot clock expired to push the lead to three.
Bellarmine had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Trisha Bennett's three-point try was off the mark and Jaime Forsberg wrapped up the win with a pair of free throws with 4.5 seconds to go.
McElrath scored 18 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead S&T, while Bunge ended the game with 18 points and 16 rebounds. McCaskill also had a double-double for the Lady Miners with 12 points and 11 boards and also added three blocked shots.
Smith and Dana Beaven led Bellarmine with 18 points apiece.
(Photo by Dave Roberts, Waynesville Daily Guide)
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