Annie Armstrong scored 25 points to lead three Lady Panther seniors in double-figures and No. 16 Drury charged back late for an 86-80 victory over Indianapolis in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Brook Duncan added 17 points and Addy Roller had a season-high 16 points – including a 40-foot trey to end the third quarter – as the Lady Panthers moved to 11-3 overall and 4-2 in the GLVC, snapping a two-game losing streak.
Indianapolis fell to 3-12 and 1-4 despite 25 points from the GLVC's leading scorer, Princess German.
This one was an unofficial, early Senior Night for the Lady Panthers, as Armstrong snapped a mini-shooting slump and went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line, most down the stretch, to help Drury seal the deal.
"I'm really proud of those seniors … look at what they did tonight," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "I think they drank the Shelby (White) and Sanayika (Shields) Kool-Aid tonight … those two willed us to several victories the second half of last year, and these seniors played with that grit and emotion to help lift us up tonight."
Drury jumped out to a 22-16 lead after one period, but watched the Greyhounds outscore the Lady Panthers 26-14 in the second quarter for a 42-36 lead at the half. The Uindy lead would grow as high as eight (53-45) midway through the third quarter before closed the gap at the end of the period and used Roller's bomb to trail 59-58 after three.
It was back and forth from there in the final period, until DU got some late stops and six Armstrong free throws in the final 1:04 to tuck away the victory and improve to 6-0 at home this season with their 33rd home victory in their last 35 games at The O'.
"We talked all week about playing with energy from the get-go, and that if we're shooting poorly again, let's get some baskets from two feet," Miller said. "I thought we did a great job defensively of coming out and putting pressure on their guards … when you get that confidence early, that's big. In the second half, we came out and hit some big-time shots.
"We just needed our confidence back when it came to shooting."
Drury hit 49 percent (30 of 61) from the field for the game after efforts of 22 and 31-percent in the road losses at Lewis and Parkside last week. And when the shots weren't falling, junior forward/center Hannah Dresslerwas grabbing the rebound. She had a game-high 12 boards as Drury claimed a 32-25 rebounding advantage.
Sarah Costello added 17 points and Nicole Anderson had 16 points and seven rebounds for UIndy, which shot 54 percent (26 of 48) for the game.
Drury is home again on Saturday for GLVC play, taking on Saint Joseph's in a 1 p.m. tipoff at The O'. It's the annual Educator Appreciation Day, with all area teachers and administrators (current or retired) at any school level, and their families, admitted for free. For tickets, call (417) 873-6389.
