LIBERTY – Addy Roller was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored a season-high 21 points to lead five in double-figures as No. 19 Drury rolled past William Jewell 87-52 in Great Lakes Valley Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Center.
Drury improved to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in the GLVC with its fourth straight victory and now will head into a stretch of seven of its final nine games at The O', where the Lady Panthers are unbeaten (7-0) this season and have won 34 of their last 36 games.
Jewell fell to 7-12 and 2-6.
Roller led the way as the Lady Panthers broke open a sluggish start by both teams with a late first half surge.
The Lady Panthers trailed 25-24 with just over six minutes left in the second quarter before finishing the half on a 20-5 run to lead 44-30 at the break. Roller had 14 points (including 3-of-3 shooting on treys) and Annie Armstrong added 10 points to lead DU, which made 6 of 13 long-range tries in the half.
Drury continued its hot shooting from there, building the lead to 65-45 after three periods before outscoring the Cardinals 22-7 in the final period to win going away.
"I was really happy with the effort … I didn't need to give a hoo-rah speech to get them fired up for this one," said Drury coach Molly Miller, referring to the Lady Panthers' 18-point loss on the same Mabee Center floor a year ago. "We got contributions from all nine … that's what is special about this.
"And Addy Roller … what a game. I think she's really taking this team under her wing as a senior and just really wants to do whatever she needs to do to help this team win."
Armstrong finished with 14 points, Alice Heinzler and Adrienne Horn added 13 points each and Hannah Dressler had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Lady Panthers.
Drury returns home to start a four-game homestand next week, hosting No. 18 Quincy (16-1, 7-1) in a GLVC West showdown on Thursday (5:30 p.m. tipoff) at The O' before entertaining Truman State on Saturday (1 p.m.), Southern Indiana on February 4 and Bellarmine on February 6. For tickets, call (417) 873-6389 … kids 12-and-under always are free for regular season games at The O'.
Quincy, which won 81-77 in overtime Saturday at home against UMSL, holds a one-game lead over the Lady Panthers in the GLVC West standings.
"This is a great momentum for us going into a very important Quincy game," Miller said. "It's got a lot of hype for a good reason."
