One of the nation's hottest teams will look to stay that way at home on Saturday, when the 11th-ranked Drury Lady Panthers take on Rockhurst at 1 p.m. in a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

It's the annual Homecoming and "Overflow The O'" festivities, with tickets just $5 each for the matchup between first-year coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers (21-3 overall, 15-1 in the GLVC) and the Rockhurst Hawks (11-13, 5-11).

Combined with the jersey retirement ceremony of former DU men's basketball greats Alex Hall and Brandon Lockhart after the Lady Panthers game and before the men's tipoff, a near-sellout is anticipated. Fans can purchase advanced tickets today at (417) 873-6389 or by visiting the O'Reilly box office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The Lady Panthers avenged their only loss in their last 19 games on Thursday when they blitzed William Jewell 88-62 behind a record shooting performance from senior post Sanayika Shields. The reigning GLVC Player of the Week for her work last weekend in wins at top-ranked Lewis and Parkside (where she hit a game-winning, 18-footer before the buzzer), Shields made all 11 of her field-goal attempts and was 2-for-2 at the line to match her career high of 24 points set earlier this season in Drury's win at Central Missouri.

Addy Roller was 3-for-3 from 3-point range and added 11 points as the Lady Panthers rolled to a 49-28 halftime advantage against a Jewell team that had defeated them 80-64 in Liberty on January 17.

Next for DU is a Rockhurst team that's won three straight, including a 53-48 triumph at Missouri S&T on Thursday night. Drury had to come from behind, aided by a late 18-0 run, to nip the Hawks 83-77 in Kansas City on January 15. Drury trailed 59-52 with 11 minutes to go in that meeting before going on a late spurt to grab the lead and the game against a Hawks team whose most notable win of this season - an upset of Top 10 Pittsburg State - came on the floor of The O' back in November in the Doubletree/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic.

Mary Dineen had 25 points (including 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range) to lead Rockhurst in the first matchup with Drury, while Jill Myers added 16 points and eight rebounds and Lauren Meyers had 12 points. Rockhurst shot .475 from the field for the game (28 of 59), including 12 of 27 from 3-point range. The Hawks turned it over 15 times to seven by the Lady Panthers.

Shields led Drury in the first meeting with 20 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 15 points in the opening half as the Lady Panthers built a 45-38 lead by the halftime break. Roller added 17 points and Annie Armstrong had 15 points and six assists for DU, as it extended its lead in the overall series with the Hawks to 28-1 - with the one Rockhurst victory coming in the very first meeting between the programs (a 72-69 overtime win for the Hawks on January 27, 2001 in Kansas City).

Armstong averages 13.8 points to lead a balanced DU attack, with Shields adding 12.4 points and 8.8 rebounds and Roller adding 10.6 points per game.

Dineen leads coach Larry Park's Hawks with her 13.6 points per game, while Meyers adds 13.3 points.

Saturday's game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM (streamed live at www.jock987.com), and will also be televised live on Mediacom Connections 22. It can be seen in a free, live webcast at www.drurypanthers.com/watch.