ROLLA, Mo. – After closing out the regular season Saturday with a thrilling overtime win over Lewis, the Missouri S&T women's basketball team will open postseason play Monday with a rematch against Illinois Springfield Monday evening at 5:30 P.M. on the road in Springfield.
 
The Miners (11-15, 8-12) locked up the 11th seed in this year's GLVC Basketball championship following a 72-67 win over Lewis behind a trio of double-figure performances from Alex Kerr (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy), Laura Rodriguez (Gran Canaria, Spain/Baloncesto Torrelodones) and Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township). Rodriguez (14.2 PPG) is one of three Miners this season with 50 or more assists, while Kerr (13.6 PPG, 7.8 RPG), one of the league leaders in rebounding in the GLVC enters the postseason with 27 blocks, a mark which ranks fourth. Marta Durk (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) (7.6 PPG) leads the team in steals and assists with 48 and 57 respectively, while freshman Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) (5.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG) finished the regular season as the conference leader with 38 blocks. As a team, S&T ranks third in the GLVC in blocks and sixth in steals entering the postseason.
 
Illinois Springfield (16-10, 11-9) took a loss in their regular season finale against Drury by a score of 92-66 but still locked up the sixth seed in the tournament. Thursday night in Rolla, Malea Jackson (13.3 PPG) led the way with 20 points while Lauren Ladowski (17.2 PPG) added 17 and Ellie Mitchell (9.6 PPG) had 14. Ally Gietzel (9.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG) had 11 rebounds and just missed out on a double-double with nine points.
 
In Thursday night's game, the Miners led in the early going but UIS was able to overcome the deficit and hold on in the second half to win 69-62. This year's postseason appearance for S&T marks the first for the program since 2014.