LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a two game road swing, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team will return to Knights Hall for a pair of conference matchups. On Thursday, Jan. 9, Bellarmine will take on the tenth-ranked Drury Lady Panthers in a  5:45 p.m. contest and then in the weekend finale on Saturday, Jan. 11, Missouri S&T comes to Louisville for a 1 p.m. game.

The Knights split a two-game road trip last weekend as they dropped a 62-70 match against William Jewell and finished with a 76-74 win over the Rockhurst Hawks in Kansas City, Mo. Bellarmine's win over Rockhurst was the Knight's first victory away from Knights Hall since Jan. 26, 2013.

Senior forward Kelsey Lamb tallied her first career double-double with a 13 point, 12 rebound performance against William Jewell and despite Bellarmine also holding a +22 rebound margin over the Cardinals, the Knights lost their conference-opener.

Bellarmine (5-5, 1-1 GLVC) stepped up their defensive pressure against Rockhurst. The Knights forced 19 turnovers with 17 of them on steals. The 17 takeaways is tied for the highest team total this season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Individually, sophomore guard Mackenzie Martinez recorded seven steals, tied for third best in a single game in Bellarmine history. Bellarmine was led in scoring by sophomore forward Sarah Galvin who responded after several tough outings with 13 points, five rebounds and four steals, including several key buckets that pushed the Knights to the win.

Overall, the Knights are led by Galvin's 9.9 points per game and sophomore guard Mariah Gador's 6.0 rebounds per contest. Bellarmine has scored 68.9 points per contest and has shot a tick under 40 percent for the season. Bellarmine has spread the ball around this season as seven different players for the Knights are averaging between five and 10 points per game. Bellarmine has pulled down 43.1 rebounds per game and their 176 total offensive rebounds (17.6 per game) is far and away the best mark in the league, with second place having recorded 14.8 per game.

The tenth-ranked Drury Panthers are 10-1 this season (2-1 GLVC) but come to Bellarmine on Thursday after losing their first game of the season, a 68-85 loss to Indianapolis. The Panthers fell from sixth to tenth in the national polls following the loss.

Drury has been solid this season through their 10-1 mark. The Panthers have averaged 75.5 points per game and have allowed just 67.3. They have shot 42.2 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three, with 42.9 rebounds per game. Senior forward Kylie Williamson leads the team with 14.9 points per game to go with her 5.6 rebounds per contest. Junior center Sanayika Shields leads her team in rebounding with 8.6 per game along with 9.3 points. Sophomore guard Annie Armstrong is top of the GLVC with a 3.6 assist to turnover ration (43 assists, 12 turnovers) and graduate student center Amber Dvorak leads the conference with 2.3 blocks to go with 13.2 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game.

Bellarmine holds a 1-7 all-time mark against Drury with their last win coming on Jan. 3, 2008 as the Knights defeated the Panthers 86-78 in Knights Hall.

Missouri S&T enters this weekend's action with a 5-6 overall record (1-2 GLVC). The Miners topped Saint Joseph's College 79-65 in their last game after a 57-81 loss to Indianapolis. Missouri S&T has one of the top shooting percentages in the league with a 44.3 percent mark from the field. The Miners have shot 35.9 from three. However, they have turned the ball over 16.9 times per game and are last in the conference in steals (5.5 per game). Individually, junior guard Mia Wesley leads the squad with 17.1 points per game. Senior guard Toni Knar has poured in 13.6 points on .500 shooting and 48.3 percent from three-point range, and senior forward Kylie Cooper leads the team in rebounds with 7.4 per game to go with 9.9 points per contest.

Bellarmine is 4-5 all-time against the Miners. Bellarmine lost 62-74 to a 24th-ranked Missouri S&T team on Jan. 14, 2012 in the teams' last meeting.