(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 11) — The McKendree University women's basketball team dropped a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest to Missouri S&T Saturday afternoon in Rolla, MO. The Bearcats fell by a score of 74-66.

The loss dips McKendree to 10-14 overall and 1-13 in the GLVC this season. The Bearcats return to action Feb. 13 in Liberty, MO against William Jewell College.

McKendree had four players reach double figures in points led by freshman guard Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) and freshman forward Megan Jensen (Union, MO/Saint Francis Borgia Regional ) who each tallied 12 points. Heberg went 3-8 from beyond the arc, while Jensen shot 6-8 from the field with a team high seven rebounds along with three assists and two steals. Senior guards Amber Alexander (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) and Shannon McGinnis (Niles, Ill./Trinity) each added 11 points with Alexander adding two assists, three steals, and one block, as McGinnis tabbed four boards, three dimes, two steals, and one block.

After a Miner three gave Missouri S&T an early 5-2 lead, McKendree rattled off a 15-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes.  Heberg got the run started with back-to-back splashes from deep, followed by a three point play by sophomore forward Jordan Morton (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South). Morton scored the final seven points of the run as the Bearcats took a 20-11 lead after the first quarter as the McKendree bench outscored the Miners 12-7 as the Bearcats capitalized inside with 10-5 advantage on points in the paint.

A trey from Alexander stretched the lead to 11 in the second quarter before Missouri S&T began chip away with a 9-2 run to pull within four points with 4:22 remaining in the half.  Jensen hit on a pair of jumpers to push the lead back to eight, but it was short lived as the Miners scored the next seven points to trim the lead to one with 1:18 to play. McGinnis converted a layup to give McKendree some breathing room but a late three from Missouri S&T moved the score to 35-33 at the break.

The teams traded baskets to begin the third quarter as Heberg scored inside and hit from long range to move the margin to 45-41 in favor of the Bearcats. The Miners marched back with a 9-1 run to take a 50-46 lead, but a layup and a pair of free throws from Alexander bookending a basket from Jensen put McKendree back in front at the end of the third quarter with a 52-51 lead.

The teams exchanged the lead in the fourth as a layup from McGinnis pushed the lead to three at 56-53 before a 4-0 run from the Miners gave Missouri S&T a 57-56 edge. The Miners moved ahead by seven using a 6-0 run with 55 seconds to play and the lead proved to be too much for McKendree to overcome as Missouri S&T held on to win by eight.