ROLLA, MO- Off a good note from this past weekend's win over the Hawks of Quincy University, the Miners will face a split weekend beginning at Truman State on Thursday night and then hosting the Cardinals of William Jewell on Saturday afternoon in Gibson Arena.

S&T's defense was the talk of the game, holding the Hawks to just 12.5% shooting in the opening quarter and then holding them to just 12 points in the third quarter. The Miners would take full advantage of the Hawks scoring struggles to push their lead out to as much as 18 before taking the 76-61 win.

Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) led the way for the Miners with 17 points while Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy), Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township), and Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) chipped in 15, 14, and 14, respectively. Kerr also had a game-high 11 rebounds to record her 5^th double-double of the season.

For the season, Rodriguez and Kerr have been the constants for S&T, averaging 15.8 and 15.4 points/game, respectively while Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) and Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) have added in 10.8 and 10.5 points/game, respectively.

Kerr has also led the way for the Miners on the boards, bringing down 104 total rebounds. She currently leads the GLVC and Division II in that category along with blocked shots and double-doubles this season.

Truman State:
The Bulldogs (5-2, 5-2 GLVC) got a long break between games, not playing in one since they took down William Jewell back on January 6th.

Truman got out to a hefty lead to open the game, taking a 43-22 lead heading into

halftime. While Jewell was able to kick-start their offense in the second half, and outscore the Bulldogs 23-13 in the final quarter, the 19-point lead to start the game would be enough to secure the 77-63 win. Nine of the 11 girls that played for Truman that game scored while Katie Jaseckas led the way with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.

For the season, Hannah Belanger leads TSU with 18.1 points/game while Jaseckas is not far behind her with 16.4 points/game. Katey Klucking is adding in 12.6 points/game while Ellie Weltha has been controlling the boards for the Bulldogs with 74 total rebounds (10.6/game).

The Miners have struggled against the Bulldogs in the past. S&T has not seen a win over Truman State since the 2006-2007 season with the last nine match-ups going in favor of TSU.

Last season when the two teams met at Pershing Arena, the Miners could not find an answer for the Bulldogs tough defense. After looking at a 23-12 deficit after the first quarter and getting down by as much as 25 in the second quarter, S&T's offense went on a much needed 15-0 run to get back within striking distance.

But, another scoring drought in the third quarter would sink the Miners chances of making another comeback and ended up suffering the 87-71 loss.

William Jewell:
Since the Miners last saw the Cardinals back on December 20, William Jewell has lost their last three games, including a 66-60 heartbreaker to Southwest Baptist this past Saturday.

After playing dead even with the Bearcats for most of the game, Macyn Wilbers went 1-2 from the free-throw line to put Jewell down 62-60 with 1:42 left in the game. But, SBU's Kyleigh Vaught scored four straight points to end the game to hand WJC their third straight loss of 2021.

Kiara Bradley and Ainsley Tolson have been the biggest scoring threats for the Cardinals this season, averaging 20.8 and 12.3 points/game while Bradley has also brought down a team-high 83 rebounds.

S&T has struggled against William Jewell for the past three seasons, not getting a win over the Cardinals sine the 2017-2018 season.

When the two teams met before the holiday break, Jewell used a big first quarter offensive push to take an early 29-14 lead. While the Miners defense was able to hold WJC to just 15% shooting in the second quarter, their offense took charge and got them within three heading into halftime.

While S&T's offense did all they could to keep pace with the Cardinals, WJC's Kiara Bradley could not be stopped. Bradley scored 15 of her game-high 30 points in the second half to lead the Cardinals to the 73-62 win.