(Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners open GLVC action on Thursday night when it travels down to Springfield, Mo., to take on Drury University beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Miners enter play this week with a record of 4-2 overall while the Lady Panthers are 6-0 and currently ranked ninth in the country.

S&T played short-handed last weekend in the Doubletree Hotel/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Drury, but should be at full strength for the conference opener. The Lady Miners have won eight straight GLVC lidlifters which is currently tied for the third longest streak in the GLVC history with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (1996-97 to 2003-04). Southern Indiana holds the record having won 11 straight (1992-93 to 2002-03) and Bellarmine is second with 10 in a row (1984-85 to 1993-94). No previous team in GLVC history has ever won its conference opener in each of its first eight seasons in the league.

S&T is averaging 73.7 points a contest while allowing 68.8 per game. The Lady Miners lead the GLVC in three-point field-goal percentage knocking down 42.7 percent of their attempts and are second in field-goal percentage at 48.8 percent. S&T ranks eighth in Division II in three-point field-goal percentage and 10^th in field-goal percentage. Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) leads the league and is 11^th nationally in three-point field percentage (56.0 percent).

Mia Wesley (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) leads the Lady Miners in scoring with 19.0 points per game while Knar is dropping home 13.7 per night. Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) is third on the squad with 10.2 points per game. Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) and Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) are averaging 9.5 and 8.3 points respectively. Cooper leads the team in rebounding with 7.0 rebounds per game.

Drury enters Thursday's contest riding a six-game winning streak after defeating Missouri Western 71-60 and Union 62-59 in its Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. The Lady Panthers are averaging 74.2 points per contest while yielding just 65.8 per game. They're led in scoring by seniors Kylie Williamson and Bethanie Funderburk who are averaging 14.8 and 13.0 points per game respectively. Sanayika Shields and Amber Dvorak are dropping in 9.3 points per game apiece. Shields leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 per contest while Williamson is grabbing 6.2 boards per game.

Thursday's contest will be the 22^nd meeting all-time between S&T and Drury with the Lady Panthers holding a 15-6 lead. The two sides split the season series last year with both teams winning on the other's home court. The Lady Miners held off Drury for a 66-63 win last December while the Lady Panthers won in Rolla 66-57 to conclude the regular season. This will be the 11^th meeting in Springfield with Drury leading 7-3, but S&T has won two of the last three meetings in the O'Reilly Family Events Center.

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