(ROLLA, Mo., Feb. 22)—The McKendree University women's basketball team battled its way past Missouri S&T Thursday evening in Rolla, Mo., 68-64.
The Bearcats built a 12-point lead in the early stages of the second quarter, but held off a late rally from the host Miners to grab their second straight victory. McKendree improves to 11-13 on the year and is now 7-10 in Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats will close out the regular season Saturday with a road contest at Quincy University. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill.
Freshman guard Sydney Diekhoff led all scorers with 20 points. Diekhoff was also 9-of-10 from the free throw line against Missouri S&T, which included hitting all six of her tries from the line in the fourth quarter. Sophomores Madison Hart, Megan Jensen and Shayli Florine all added eight points off the bench for the Bearcats, while Hart and freshman guard Callie Pohlman grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Heberg handed out a game-high four assists for McKendree.
McKendree held a 45-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Missouri S&T (8-17, 3-14 GLVC) fought its way into the lead three different times in the early stages of the period. The Miners held a slim 51-49 advantage before the Bearcats reeled off nine consecutive points to take the lead for good, 58-51, with 2:46 to play. McKendree hit a trio of three-point field goals during the spurt, including the final one from Diekhoff to give the Bearcats a seven-point bulge.
Missouri S&T began to edge closer to McKendree, getting within 62-60 with just 54 seconds to play. Heberg hit a jumper on the Bearcats' next possession to increase the lead back to four points, and a free throw from Hart following a Miners' miss pushed the McKendree lead to 65-60 with 12.2 seconds on the clock. Missouri S&T's Maddie Raley then drilled a three-pointer after a timeout to get the Miners back within 65-63 with 7.4 seconds left.
After the Bearcats missed a pair of free throws, Missouri S&T had a chance to tie the game from the free throw line after a foul with 6.1 seconds remaining. The Miners made the first but missed the second and still trailed by one point. Junior forward Jordan Morton claimed the rebound for McKendree and worked the ball to Diekhoff, who was fouled with 3.7 seconds left. Diekhoff hit both attempts to enable the Bearcats to build the lead back to three points at 67-64.
The Miners called their final timeout to advance the ball to midcourt. Missouri S&T had a potential game-tying three-point attempt from the wing, but Diekhoff blocked the shot and Hart grabbed the rebound. She hit the front end of a two-shot foul with 0.7 seconds to go to seal the victory for McKendree.
McKendree had the hot hand in the first quarter, hitting six of its first seven shots from the field in building a 15-5 lead. The Bearcats finished the quarter by going 8-of-12 from the floor (66.7 percent) on its way to a 19-9 lead after one period. McKendree stretched the margin to 12 points two different times in the second quarter, the last coming on a lay-up from Jensen at the 6:33 mark to give the Bearcats a 23-11 cushion. Missouri S&T put together its first rally of the contest over the final 2:18 of the half, closing with a 10-2 run to pull within 31-28 at the intermission.
Joe'l Bland led Missouri S&T with 14 points, while Raley and Maddie Raley each contributed 12 points. Arand also grabbed a team-leading six rebounds for the Miners, while Bland collected a game-high five steals in the effort.
