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Rolla, Mo. – The Lewis University women's basketball team suffered their first Great Lakes Valley Conference loss at the hands of Missouri S&T, 69-62, on Saturday (Jan. 5), breaking their five game winning streak.
 
The Flyers fall to 8-2 on the season and 1-1 in the GLVC while the Lady Miners improve to 7-4 on the year and 3-0 in conference play.
 
“Missouri S&T was tougher than us today,” Lewis head women's basketball coach Lisa Carlsen said. “We didn't respond to the challenge and they were able to take us out of our flow offensively.”
 
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, tying up each other two times before Lewis took the lead 7-6 on a Mariyah Henley (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) jump shot at the 12-minute mark.
 
The Flyers' lead grew to six points with just under nine minutes left in the half, helped by three three-pointers by junior Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington).
 
Grayer ended the game with 13 points, on 5-of-7 shooting and hit 3-of-4 three-pointers in 23 minutes off the bench, while Henley had eight points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes. 
 
Missouri S&T went on a 5-1 run in the last minute of the half to take a 30-27 lead into halftime. The Lady Miners extended that run into the second half with their lead buoying at six three different times before Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) hit the Flyers first field goal of the half at 14:25.
 
Rinehart finished the game with 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
 
The Flyers regained the lead on six straight points on a basket from Grayer and two from Henley. Labrenthia Murdock (Round Lake, Ill./Round Lake) added two free throws to push the Flyers lead to four points, 48-44 at the 10:32 mark.
 
Murdock had a career-high four blocks against the Lady Miners, moving to eighth in program history with 74 career blocks. She added 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Flyers.
 
The squads kept the pressure up late in the game, exchanging five ties before Missouri S&T was able to take and hold on to a seven-point lead for the conference victory, 69-62.
 
Kylie Cooper and Toni Knar, who each scored 15 points in the contest, led the Lady Miners. Cooper also added nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
“This is one of those games we can learn from, adjust and get better,” Carlsen said.
 
Lewis returns home to take on William Jewell on Thursday (Jan. 10) at 5:30 PM at Neil Carey Arena.