SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri S&T's strong presence in the paint led to the Miners' 74-67 win over the Lady Panthers on Thursday evening in The O'Reilly Family Event Center, ending Drury's three-game winning streak.
 
Missouri S&T opened the game with a layup followed by a Sara Mendel jumper late in the shot clock. The next two minutes were scoreless.
 
Following the scoreless run, the Miners are on an 8-0 run to grow their lead, 10-2. The Lady Panthers and Miners traded punches back and forth for the final six minutes of the first quarter, putting Missouri S&T up 21-15.
 
The first two and a half minutes of the second quarter were sloppy for both teams. There were a combined three turnovers and only four points, all four in favor of S&T.
 
Talia Norman and Josie Storey answered with back-to-back scores to cut the S&T lead to five, 25-20. The Miners would end the half on another long run with the Lady Panthers cutting it down to as much as four points and entering the half trailing 36-30.
 
A Lady Panther 10-4 run to start the second half knotted the game up at 40, just short of halfway through the third quarter. Rhi Gibbons led the run with the first four points and 5-6 shooting from four Lady Panthers.
 
Missouri S&T pulled away in the final six minutes of the third quarter to put their advantage to nine points entering the final quarter, 56-47.
 
Missouri S&T's 10 points in the first five minutes did not hinder the Lady Panthers' push at the end of the game. A Sara Mendel jumper kick-started a 12-8 run for Drury in the final five minutes, but the run was just too little too late.
 
GAME NOTES

• The loss gave the Lady Panthers their first GLVC loss of the season, dropping to 5-1, and ending Drury's three-game winning streak.
• Missouri S&T picked up its fifth win against Drury in program history, now 5-38. It is the Miners' first win in Springfield since the 2012-13 season.
• Missouri S&T outscored Drury in every major category: points off turnovers (18 to 2), points in the paint (52 to 24), points from second chance opportunities (17 to 11), points from fast breaks (7 to 5), and bench points (39 to 19).
• Drury was outshot from the field (47.7% to 41.5%) and from three (40% to 31.8%).
• The Lady Panthers never held a lead in the game; the game was tied at two different points.
• 74 points from Missouri S&T is the first time since December 15 that a Drury opponent has scored more than 50 points.
• Sara Mendel recorded her ninth double-double of the season with a 15-point, 10-rebound performance. She is now tied for fifth in single-season double-doubles at Drury with five others.
• Mendel scored 15 points on 7 for 10 shooting, improving her season shooting percentage to 66.9%.
• Rhi Gibbons added a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds.
• Sage Stratton produced nine points off the bench, all from beyond the three-point line. It is a career high for Stratton in points and made threes.
• The Miners only had two players in double figures, Anna Gilbertson and Macy Marraccini, both had 11.
• There were ten Miners who scored at least once in the game.
• Kaci Bailey drops to 17-3 in the month of January, two of the three losses have come against Missouri S&T. It was Bailey's first loss in The O' in January, now 10-1.

 
QUOTABLE
"S&T punched first and often," commented Kaci Bailey postgame, "The physicality beat us today, and we were not able to respond."
 
UP NEXT
Drury will host Lincoln on Saturday for Drury Athletics Hall of Fame Day for a 1 pm tip-off in The O'.
 
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