ROLLA, MO-The Miners will hit the road once again this weekend, paying a visit south as they head to Springfield on Thursday to take on the top-ranked Panthers of Drury University and then to Bolivar on Saturday afternoon to face-off against the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist University.

S&T is coming off a three game week that ended with a heartbreaking 88-82 loss to William Jewell. After looking at a one point deficit at halftime, the Miners fought back in the third quarter to take a 66-60 lead with 1:08 left.

After a three-pointer from Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones), who led the team on Saturday with 24 points, WJC answered back at the buzzer with a three-pointer from Rhyann Fisher to make it a 66-63 game heading into the final stanza.

While the Miners opened play in the fourth with back-to-back baskets from Jordan Kabetske (Republic, Mo./Republic) and Tristen McFeders (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege), the Cardinals would get a basket from Ainsly Tolson with less than a minute left. Tolson along with Claire Burch would make four free-throws in the last 30 seconds of the game to secure Jewell with the 88-82 win.

For the season, S&T has four players averaging double figures; Mykala Baylor (South Bend, Ind./Clay) leads the way with 12.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) is just behind her with 11.8 points and shooting a team best 43% from behind the arc. Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) and Maddie Raley (Haubstadt, Ind./Gibson Southern) round out the remaining scorers for the Miners bringing in 11.2 and 10.0 points/game, respectively.

As a team, Missouri S&T is shooting 44% from the field and 38% from long range.

About Drury:
The Panthers (19-0, 10-0 GLVC) are coming off their closest match-up this season; the Knights of Bellarmine University gave Drury a run for their money on Saturday afternoon, matching them shot for shot through for 37 minutes.

It wouldn't be until the last 2 and a half minutes of the game where Drury was able to pull away from Bellarmine. Four consecutive baskets from Hailey Diestelkamp, Paige Robinson, and Dejah Bernard gave DU a 77-69 lead with 56 seconds left. Bellarmine would attempt to shoot their way back into it, but the Panthers offense would hold steady and take the 82-74 win.

Diestelkamp played a big role for the Panthers in their win, scoring a game-high 37 points on 14-21 shooting while Paige Robinson added in 20 points.

For the season, Diestelkamp leads the team with 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds/game while Paige Robinson is adding in just under 13 points/contest.

This will be the second time this season that the Miners and Panthers will face-off. In their last meeting two weeks ago, Drury used a 32 point second quarter to break away from S&T. While the Miners kept pace with the Panthers in the third and fourth quarters, the 22 point deficit from halftime was too much to come back from and Missouri S&T faced the 97-76 loss.

Drury holds the all-time record against the Miners 28-6 with the last S&T win coming back in the 2012-2013 season when the Miners snuck past the Panthers with a 66-63 win in Springfield.

About Southwest Baptist:
The Bearcats (9-9, 3-7 GLVC) are currently on a four-game losing skid that was extended last weekend when the duo of Bellarmine and Indianapolis handed SBU back-to-back losses on the road.

Southwest Baptist found themselves up 13-7 over the Greyhounds after the opening 10 minutes on Saturday afternoon. They would be short-lived as UIndy went on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. Regan Tibbits and Bailey Rezabek helped to keep the Bearcats close to the Greyhounds, combining for 11 of the teams 14 second quarter points.

It would not be enough to hold SBU as Indianapolis went on to take the 67-56 win.

Along with Rezabek and Tibbits, Sydney Bandy reached double-figure scoring on Satuday afternoon.

For the season, Bailey Rezabek leads the team with 17.7 points/game while Kyleigh Vaught is adding in just under 11 points. Four different players have over 5.0 rebounds/contest; Rezabek, Regan Tibbits, Sydney Bandy, and Zahria White lead SBU on the boards with the team bringing down around 40 rebounds a game.

This will be the second time the Miners and Bearcats have faced off this season and the second time in a three week span.

When SBU came to Rolla back on January 16, a late game push from the Bearcats proved to be the Miners unraveling. Seven made free-throws in the last minute of the game helped Southwest Baptist claim the 85-78 win and add to their all-time wins over S&T.

S&T is currently on an 18-game losing streak against the Bearcats; the last Miner win came back in the 1997-1998 season and the last win in Bolivar came in the 1994-1995 season.

The Bearcats will face off against the Saints of Maryville University on Thursday night before hosting the Miners on Saturday afternoon.