ROLLA, MO- The Miners (3-13, 3-13 GLVC) finished up their three-game homestand last weekend and will hit the road to St. Louis this Thursday and Saturday to take on the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis and the Bearcats of McKendree University.

S&T almost tallied a win over Lindenwood this past Saturday. After playing dead even with the Lions in the first half, the Miners faced a three-point deficit heading into the final 10 minutes of play. Lindenwood would extend their lead out to as much as 11 in the fourth quarter, S&T got back-to-back three-pointers from Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) and Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) to get within six. But, the Lions would sink five free-throws in the final 42 seconds of the game to take the 80-72 win.

Freshman Jada Lindesmith (St. Peters, MO/Lutheran) came off the bench to score a collegiate high 10 points while going 2-3 from long range while Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) led the way for the Miners with 23 points. Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) and Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) both hit double digit figures in scoring with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

For the season, Rodriguez and Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) have led the charge for the Miners with 17.1 and 14.7 points/game while Kerr is leading the GLVC with 162 total rebounds and is second in the league with 10.1 rebounds/game.

Missouri-St. Louis:
The Tritons (9-6, 9-6 GLVC) haven't played in almost two weeks due to postponed games with their last game being against Rockhurst back on January 30. UMSL and RU kept it close the entire game, but it would be the Hawks that came out with the win.

RU's Daly Sullivan sank a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the game to put the Tritons down 54-47. UMSL's Faye Meissner added in two free-throws to cut their deficit to five, but RU got three more made free-throws down the stretch to secure the 57-51 win.

For the season, the Tritons have been led by Alex LaPorta and Kiara Stewart for the sea­son. LaPorta is averaging 17.2 points/game while Stewart is adding in 11.8 points. Both LaPorta and Stewart are also leading UMSL with a combined 16.4 rebounds/game.

The Miners have, historically, seen great success over the Tritons. They lead the all-time series match-up 39-25, but haven't recorded a win over UMSL since February 2019. In that game, S&T used a 24-point fourth quarter that included 12 made free-throws from the Min­ers to take the 60-49 win.

Last season when the two teams met, UMSL's offense lit up in the fourth quarter. Dani­elle Berry opened the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers and then found Brianna Diestelkamp open in the lane for the lay-up and free-throw for the three-point play. From there, the Tritons would outscore the Miners 8-5 to take the 67-56 win.

McKendree:
The Bearcats (6-10, 6-10 GLVC) are coming off back-to-back wins over Rockhurst and Southwest Baptist that saw Sydney Diekhoff average 18 points/game.

After taking a 27-17 lead over SBU in the first quarter, McKendree was held to just 22% from the field in the second quarter and was outscored by Southwest Baptist 16-7. McKendree would be able to hold on in the second half of play for the nail-biting 72-62 win.

For the season, Diekhoff and Christy Fortune have led the Bearcats with 14.2 and 12.7 points/game, respectively, while Madison Jones is leading the team with 6.1 rebounds.

The Miners are currently on a four-game losing streak against McKendree, not getting a win over the Bearcats since February 2017, and not seeing a win over them in Lebanon since February 2014.

Earlier this season when the two teams met, McKendree used an explosive fourth quarter to edge past the Miners. The Bearcats opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run and made seven free-throws in the quarter to take the 62-55 win.

Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) led the way for the Miners in that game with 16 points while Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) added in 12 points.

McKendree will play against Drury on Thursday night before welcoming the Miners on Saturday afternoon.