Annie Armstrong scored 17 points, including eight crucial points in the closing two minutes, to lead No. 16 Drury to a 77-73 victory over Saint Joseph's in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Armstrong hit a pair of clutch conventional three-point plays, and added two free throws in the final five seconds to ice it as the Lady Panthers improved to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the GLVC.
Saint Joseph's (11-5, 4-2) had a homecoming spoiled for former Lady Panthers/current Pumas coach Steve Harold and junior standout Kalea Parks. The former DU standout as a freshman – and GLVC Freshman of the Year – scored a game-high 33 points and added six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, and led SJC on a strong comeback late to make it tight down the stretch.
But that's when Armstrong took over.
After Drury had watched SJC come back from a 67-59 deficit to tie it at 67 with 3:17 to play on two Parks free throws, Armstrong drove the paint for an acrobatic layup and drew a foul, with her free throw giving DU a 70-67 lead with 1:39 to go.
And after Saint Joseph's pulled to within two (72-70) with 42 seconds left on a Parks free throw, Armstrong countered with almost the same conventional 3-point play, putting DU up 75-70 with 13 seconds left. The Pumas' Courtney Kvachkoff answered with a trey with seven seconds to play to cut it back to two (75-73), but DU quickly inbounded to Armstrong, who was fouled, and sank two free throws with six seconds left to ice it.
"I think since our Parkside-Lewis trip, Annie has really taken it upon herself to be a leader on this team … she's not afraid of crunch time, which makes her so good," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "That's what we need from her. She makes such great decisions … really proud of the way she's bounced back from her shooting woes and those difficult games at Lewis and Parkside."
Briana Jones added 14 points, Alice Heinzler had 13 points and Hannah Dressler added 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Lady Panthers, who made 14 of 24 shots (58 percent) in the second half to finish at 50 percent (25 of 50) for the game for DU, which trailed 35-34 at halftime.
"We're overcoming a lot right now and we're learning a lot about ourselves," Miller said. "It was nice to see that 50 percent overall and 50 percent from three, because that's how we're capable of shooting."
Lauren Davis added 16 points, Kvachkoff added 13 points and Laura Furrer had 10 for the Pumas, who held a 34-29 rebounding advantage.
Drury is back on the GLVC road next week, visiting Rockhurst in Kansas City on Thursday and William Jewell in Liberty on Saturday.
