ROLLA, Mo. – The final night of the 2012-13 Great Lakes Valley Conference season brings Missouri S&T's biggest rival to town, as Drury University pays a visit to Billy Key Court for a doubleheader that carries implications in both the league and regional settings.  The women's contest will get underway at 5:30 pm., with the men's game between the Miners and eighth-ranked Panthers scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.

Women's Game -- Lady Miners vs. Drury

The latest installment of the competitive series between the teams finds Drury in the role of spoiler, as Missouri S&T enters the game with a chance to gain a share of the GLVC West Division title and also complete a sweep of the conference games from Lady Panthers for the first time since the schools joined the league together in the 2005-06 season.

But to do that, the Lady Miners must find a way to slow down a potent scoring duo on the other side in guards Katie Pritchard and Bethanie Funderburk, both of whom are averaging 14.4 points a game heading into Thursday's contest.  Both players have had big scoring games against S&T in the past, as Pritchard has scored in double figures in six of the seven prior meetings against them and Funderburk has averaged 19 points in five career games against the Lady Miners.

The two have accounted for 87 of the Lady Panthers' 109 three-point baskets this season as well, but as a team, Drury is shooting only 39.8 percent from the field.   Drury is also getting 8.6 points a game from Emilie Gray.

Missouri S&T has only one player averaging in double figures in senior forward Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) -- one of four Lady Miners playing their last scheduled home game Thursday – and she is coming off her sixth double-double of the season as she had 12 points and 12 rebounds in S&T's 61-47 win Monday over Rockhurst.

Parks currently ranks 11^th in the GLVC in scoring with her average of 14 points per game and is also fourth in rebounding with 7.9 a game and second in field goal percentage at 52.2 percent.  Meanwhile, Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) ranks sixth in the league in three-pointers with 53 and is also sixth in three-point percentage at 39.6 percent on the year.

Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter), Taylor Jensen (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) and Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La./) will be playing their final regular season home games Thursday along with Parks and will be honored prior to the contest.

The Lady Miners got 16 points from Knar and Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) to win the first meeting between the teams 66-63 in Springfield on Dec. 6, S&T's third win over Drury in the last four meetings between the teams.  Pritchard had 24 points for the Lady Panthers to lead all scorers in that game.  Drury has won six of the prior seven GLVC matchups between the teams in Rolla.

Men's Game – Miners vs. Drury

The Miners will seek to close out their 2012-13 season on a winning note Thursday night – but will have to do so against perhaps the hottest team in NCAA Division II.  Drury, which moved up to eighth in the latest NABC/Division II national rankings on Tuesda and is first in the NCAA Midwest region, shares the nation's longest active winning streak with top-ranked West Liberty of 13 games and has won those contests by an average of 23.8 points per game.

The Panthers are second in the nation in scoring margin at plus 20.6 points per game and lead the GLVC in 10 of its 17 statistical categories, including scoring offense (82 points per game) and scoring defense (61.4).  They have three of the top offensive players in the conference led by senior guard Alex Hall, who is second in the conference in scoring with an average of 18.2 points per game and leads the GLVC with 82 three-point field goals.

Hall, who hit nine three-points in 10 attempts to score 33 points in the Panthers' 88-52 win over the Miners in Springfield on Dec. 6, is only six three-pointers away from breaking the school's all-time record of 351 and is closing in on 2,000 points in his four-year career with the Panthers.

Brandon Lockhart, who is averaging 11.8 points per game, leads the GLVC in assists with 146 and steals with 76, while Teddy Simniok is second in the league in field goal percentage at 62.6 percent while scoring 10.2 points per game.   The four teams to beat the Panthers this year – including defending national champion Western Washington – have a combined record of 80-21.

Missouri S&T continues to be led in the scoring column by junior guard Mudi Eruteya, who ranks among the top 20 scorers in the GLVC at 14 points per game and is fourth in rebounding with 7.7 per game.  Eruteya is coming off a game Monday against Rockhurst – a 56-43 Miner win that snapped a six-game losing streak – where he led the way with 15 points and added a season-high five steals.  His 85 assists and 38 steals also lead the Miners.

The Miners are also getting 10.8 points per game from Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East), while freshman guard Zach Ellis is averaging 8.3 points per contest.

S&T will have four seniors playing their final game of their careers Thursday in Filmore Bouldes (Romulus, Mich./Romulus), Brian Gifford (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North), Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) and Eli Steinbeck (Hermann, Mo./Hermann).

Women's Game Notes – Lady Miners vs. Drury
Men's Game Notes – Miners vs. Drury

Women's Live Stats
Men's Live Stats

Live Video
Live Audio