Since mid-December, Miles has played the part of road warrior. Both men's and women's basketball teams have played games in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia with just one home contest. Each team has struggled during that stretch and hope to get back on track when they open extended homestands Saturday at Knox-Windham Gymnasium against Lane.

The Lady Bears (4-10, 2-5 SIAC West) will tip-off at 1 p.m. and hope to extinguish their current three-game skid. On Jan. 6, they beat Benedict for the first time in six years but things have not gone well since. Leading scorer Victoria Sutton (10.9 points, 2.3 assists) has not been available the last two games but Miles' scoring woes have been a season-long issue, averaging less than 52 points per contest. The past three games, though, have been more of a struggle (43.7 points). The Lady Dragons (3-14, 3-6) have also dropped three straight overall and seven of the last eight to Miles.

While the offense has been stagnant, the defense has given the team a chance, as it is ranked second in the SIAC in points allowed (59.1 points per game). Najla Shamsid-Deen (1.7 steals, 14th), Taylor Terry (1.5 blocks, second) are among the league leaders in a couple of defensive categories. The roster, which includes six players that have been freshly integrated throughout this season, has gotten some solid play from newcomers Jasmine Hollis (8.3 points, 7.9 rebounds - fifth in SIAC) and Darika Chelsey (.327 3-point field goal percentage, eighth).

The men (3-12, 2-6 SIAC West) will tip-off at 3 p.m. and their issue is the opposite of the women. The Golden Bears are fifth overall in scoring (78 points per game), a ranking that increases to second (83.0) in conference contests. But defensively, Miles has been unable to get stops and are last in scoring defense (88 points per game overall, 89 points in SIAC games). Lane (6-9, 4-6) has struggled offensively (62.6 points in conference play, next to last) but are allowing just 68.7 points, which is fourth-best.

Lane features one of the top two-way players in the league in junior forward Kendarius Ash, who is the only player in the SIAC averaging a double-double (14.1 points, 10.9 rebounds). Miles, though, has three players among the top-20 in the league in scoring in seniors Jeffrey Dockett (14.5), Sheldon Wright (14.1), and Carl Garcia (12.7). That list does not include Aron Stewart and Damian Archer, who are averaging nearly 29 points per game between them over the last four games, which included 49 points in Monday's 93-90 loss at Kentucky State.