ROLLA - The Missouri S&T Lady Miners played a sluggish first 10 but were able to overcome it with strong final 30 to down Park University 54-41 in its season opener on Thursday night in Rolla.

The Pirates (6-1), playing their seventh game of the season, raced out to an early 8-2 advantage in the first five minutes of the contest. S&T (1-0) rallied to get within 10-7, but Park pushed the lead to nine on back-to-back three’s from Nicole Wilhite.

The last three came at the 10:33 mark of the opening and the S&T defense stiffened holding the Pirates scoreless the rest of the half.

Dexter, Mo., native Katelyn Heil started a 13-0 run with a layup at the 9:36 mark. Hailee Parks tied it at 16-all on a pair of free throws with 2:34 remaining in the half then Heil capped the run with a layup with 0:05 left.

The Lady Miners shot only 33 percent from the floor in the opening frame but were 8-of-10 at the charity stripe. They forced 17 Park turnovers which they turned into 10 points. Parks led the way with seven points while Courtney Kemp added five.

The Pirates shot 35 percent from the field and were led by Wilhite’s eight points.

S&T continued its run a minute into the second half with Taylor Jensen and Quintonia Evans scoring back-to-back buckets. Park closed to within four but got no closer than that the rest of the way.

Heil gave the Lady Miners a double digit lead with a three-pointer at the 11:27 mark, but the Pirates answered with one from Kristian Dodds to make it 38-30 with less than 10 minutes to play.

S&T didn’t wilt, answering with a 10-1 run spanning over five minutes that was kapped on a fast break layup from Kyesha Hall. Wilhite hit her third triple of the night to make it 51-41 with 1:01 remaining but Carissa Richardson scored the final three points to secure S&T’s eighth straight season opening win.

The Lady Miners were 13-for-28 in the second half and finished the game shooting 41.3 percent from the field. They were just 2-of-9 from three and 14-for-22 at the foul line. Parks led the way with 12 points while Kemp added 10 more.

Park shot only 39 percent for the contest and were led by Wilhite and Danila Fabbri with 11 apiece.

S&T returns to action next Friday traveling to Phoenix, Ariz., to take on California State-Dominguez Hills in the Grand Canyon University Thanksgiving Classic at 1:00 p.m. (Central Time).

Click here for a breakdown of the game's stats!

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Missouri S&T is a four-year, NCAA Division II school, located in Rolla, Mo.

2009 DHS Alums Katelyn and Cathryn Heil are both members of the S&T Women's basketball team.

For more information on everything Miners Athletics, visit sports.mst.edu.