ROLLA, MO- The Miners kicked off their three-game home stand by welcoming the top-ranked Drury Panthers (9-0, 9-0 GLVC) to Gibson Arena tonight. A slow offensive start along with multiple turnovers were to blame as S&T suffered the 85-66 loss.

While the Miners started off with a quick 3-0 lead, the Panthers would answer right back with an 11-0 run that forced Missouri S&T to call a timeout.

Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) would get the Miners back within six of Drury with back-to-back free-throws, but DU would score on four consecutive trips down the floor to push their lead out to 14. S&T got six quick points from Jada Lindesmith (St. Peters, MO/Lutheran), Kristin Steins (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South), and Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) to make it a 21-13 game, but would get stuck on defense on the last possession and face a 23-13 deficit heading into the second quarter.

The Panthers offense continued to challenge the Miners defense into the second quarter and got up by as much as 17. S&T cut into the deficit right before halftime when Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) found Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) open beyond the arc for an open three-pointer and took the 41-27 deficit into the break.

Six turnovers from the Miners in the third quarter would give Drury the opportunity to extend their lead out to as much as 22 before looking at a 68-48 disadvantage going into the final 10 minutes of play.

While S&T was able to outscore the Panthers in the final quarter, the damage proved to be too severe and the Miners faced the 85-66 loss.

 Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) led the way for the Miners tonight with 21 points on 7-12 shooting and going 7-9 from the free-throw line while Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) added in 16 points. Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) added in 10 points while Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) chipped in seven points and led all players with seven rebounds.

As a team, Missouri S&T (2-12, 2-12 GLVC) finished the game shooting 48.9% from the field and went 20-26 from the free-throw line.