PHOENIX - It wasn’t very pretty times but the Missouri S&T Lady Miners were able to grind out a 51-39 win over San Francisco State on Saturday in the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.

S&T trailed 34-26 with 12:19 to play in the contest and were struggling on the offensive end with the Gators (0-5) defensive pressure. From that point on the Lady Miners outscored SFSU 25-5 to improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

Julie Meyer got the run started with a driving layup then Senait McLeod buried a three from the left wing to pull S&T within a bucket. Courtney Kemp tied the game at 34-all with a layup as the shot clock expired.

Kayla Davis gave the Gators their final lead of the contest with a jumper at the 6:57 mark.

From there the Lady Miners ran off the next 17 points. Taylor Jensen hit a pair of free throws to it back up and then Kemp hit a pair at the charity stripe to take the lead for good.

The lead eventually grew to 15 points on a Meyer jumper with 0:27 left.

S&T shot only 37 percent (17-for-46) from the field but made the shots when it had to down the stretch. It outrebounded SFSU by a 39-to-31 margin. Defensively, it blocked four shots and finished with 13 steals.

Karli Sample led the Lady Miners with 11 points and had six rebounds. Hailee Parks finished with 10 points while Meyer added eight. Dexter native Katelyn Heil had seven rebounds.

The Gators were only 15-of-51 (29 percent) from the field and were led by Lauren Varney with 11 points. Candyce Matthews scored nine while Nicole Hicks added eight.

S&T is back at home next Thursday, Dec. 1, when it opens conference action against Maryville University beginning at 5:30 p.m.

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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.