ROLLA, Mo. – After concluding the road portion of their 2021-22 schedule over the weekend, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team returns to Gibson Arena this week to close out the regular season as they look improve their seeding ahead of the start of the 2022 GLVC Basketball Championships next Monday as they play host to Illinois Springfield Thursday night and Lewis Saturday afternoon.
 
The Miners (10-14, 7-11) currently sit 10th in the latest GLVC Point Rating System Rankings following a 2-1 week that saw wins over Lindenwood and Indianapolis. Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) (13.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG) is coming off another double-double against Southern Indiana and tied a season and career-high with 17 boards in the game while Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) continues to lead the team, scoring 14.3 PPG and is tied for second on assists at 47 with Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) (7.4 PPG), who continues to lead the team with 43 steals.  Kristen Keys (St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy) (8.3 PPG) has scored in double-figures in three of the last four games and is shooting .411 from the floor this season and her 50 assists are tops on the team. Freshman Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) (5.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG) remains atop the GLVC in blocked shots this season, as she is now up to 37 on the season and on the cusp of joining the top 10 for the most blocked shots in a season.
 
The Prairie Stars (15-9, 10-8) check in at sixth in the latest PRS rankings and have dropped two straight games, including a one-point loss to SBU last Thursday. Lauren Ladowski leads UIS in scoring this season at 17.8 PPG, which is second in the GLVC while also leading the team in steals with 71 and assists 57 while Malea Jackson (13.3 PPG) is the leader from three-point land with 31 makes on the season. Jalyn Harris (5.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG) leads the team in rebounds per game and is tops with 11 blocks with Ally Gietzel (9.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG) leads the way with 151 boards this season and is second on the team with 10 blocks while her 30 steals are third.
 
Lewis (13-12, 11-6) has won eight in a row and knocked off two Top 25 opponents along the way, beating #18 UMSL 70-60 and #4 Drury in a span of three days. The Flyers, who have played six times in the last 12 days, head to Maryville Thursday before coming to Rolla to close the regular season Saturday. A trio of Flyers are averaging double-figures per game for the season while a fourth is just outside that group. Grace Hilber's 15.0 PPG leads the team and ranks among the top 10 in the GLVC this season. Her 45 steals also lead the team while her 51 assists are second behind Kathryn Schmidt, who is scoring at an average of 14.6 PPG and leads the team with 6.6 RPG and 54 assists. Taylor Gugliuzza rounds out that trio with an average of 11.7 PPG and Lily Courier is on the verge of joining that group, scoring at a clip of 9.9 PPG. Stephanie Hart has been the leader in blocks this season with 11, and five different players have at least 20 steals on the season for the Flyers.
 
Last season, S&T knocked off UIS on the road to end the season after falling to the Prairie Stars in the first matchup of the season to increase their lead in the series all-tie to 12-4, while S&T fell to Lewis in the lone matchup of the season last year in Romeoville as the Flyers have won nine-straight in the series and lead 17-3 all-time.