KANSAS CITY, Mo. & LIBERTY, Mo.  –  The final week of the regular season has arrived, and the Miners are looking to end it with a pair of wins over Rockhurst on Thursday night and against William Jewell on Saturday.

After last week's comeback against Southwest Baptist fell short by just five points, the Miners are now 8-20 entering their final two regular season games with a 5-15 conference record. S&T's defense is still the third best in the GLVC at defending the three, allowing opponents to shoot at just 28.4%. This could play a significant part in this week's games, as Rockhurst and William Jewell average the second and third most threes per game with 7.8 and 7.3 respectively. Three-pointers will be a point of interest for the Miners as well since Addyson Kent's (North Vernon, IN/Jennings County) 68 three-pointers this season are third most in S&T single season history. She is currently 5 threes away from the leader, Trish Van Diggelen, who made 73 in the 1991-92 season.

About the Opponents:

Rockhurst (14-10, 11-9 GLVC) has been in the middle of the GLVC pack this season, splitting their last ten games with five wins and five losses. In their previous game, they beat Indianapolis 69-67 off a buzzer beater three-pointer from Keegan Sullivan. Statistically, Rockhurst has been most successful on the defensive end of the court this season. The Hawks allow the fifth fewest points per game in the GLVC (68.6) and the fourth lowest opponent field goal percentage (40.3%). They also have the third most blocks (3.42 per game) and the second most steals (10.2 per game). They also have two players in the top ten for blocked shots, Sullivan and Rebeca Garcia, both of whom are averaging 1.0 per game. One of their greatest weaknesses is their offense, as they have the worst field goal percentage in the conference, shooting at just 36% this season. They also allow the second most rebounds to opponents, with an average of 42.1 per game.
 
The Miners lead in the all-time series against the Hawks, 24 wins to 14 losses. In fact, S&T won the first fourteen games against Rockhurst, dating from 1978 to 2010. The last time that these two teams played was earlier this season, when Rockhurst came to Rolla for a game on Januray 18th. In that game, the score was tied at the end of the first quarter, but the Miners outscored the Hawks 22-7 in the second to take a fifteen point lead at halftime. Rockhurst cut the Miners lead to nine in the third, but that was as close as they would get in the second half. S&T eventually pulled away by as much as eighteen points in the final minute, winning by a final score of 74-60.
 
William Jewell holds the worst record in the GLVC at 5-21 overall, 3-17 in conference play. The Cardinals have lost their last eight in row, their most recent being a 66-83 road loss to Lewis. Their -9.2 scoring margin and -14.3 rebounding margin are both worst in the conference. Another weakness is that they allow opponents to shoot at a conference high 36.9% from the three. The two areas that stand out as statistical strengths for the Cardinals are their turnover margin and three pointers per game. Their 3.08 turnover margin is ranked fourth in the conference and, as mentioned above, they average 7.3 threes per game.
 
The Miners record against William Jewell is 11-14. Their most recent matchup was last month, on January 20th, when the Miners won 79-67. Katelynne Roberts (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) led the team in that game with 20 points. Bonnie Lew Ludlow (Indianapolis, IN/Covenant Christian), Chorus Davis (Kansas City, MO/Lincoln College Prep), and Eryn Puett (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) all scored in double figures too, as the Miners outscored the Cardinals by fourteen points in the second and third quarters.