SPRINGFIELD – The Drury Lady Panthers outscored Quincy 32-5 in the third quarter on their way to an 80-52 win in front of 1,608 boisterous elementary school students on Hiland Dairy Kids Day at the O’Reilly Family Event Center Monday afternoon.
The 13th ranked Lady Panthers improved to 10-2 while Quincy dropped to 2-10. The game counted as a non-conference contest for the two GLVC opponents. The Jan. 28 meeting at Quincy will be the match-up that counts in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings.
Drury trailed 32-27 at halftime but seized the lead just two minutes and 10 seconds into the second half going on a 10-2 run. A Daejah Bernard three-pointer tied the game at 34-34 with 8:13 left in the third quarter. Hailey Diestelkamp followed with a steal that set up a Paige Wilson three-point basket giving Drury a lead they would never relinquish. The Lady Panthers went from five down to start the third quarter, to a 59-37 lead at the end of it.
“We challenged them in the second half to not just want it more than Quincy does, but to show it on the court with hustle plays,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “I have to give a lot of kudos to Hailey Diestelkamp. She gave us momentum changing plays with her offensive rebounds and steals at mid-court.”
Diestelkamp finished with a season high 23 points going 11 for 13 from the field. The freshman from Owensville, Missouri also had eight rebounds and three steals. Heather Harman added 16 points while Daejah Bernard had 12 points and five assists.
Anika Webster came off the bench to lead the Hawks with 17 points.
Drury made 11 of 15 shots in the third quarter including 3 of their 4 three-point attempts. The Lady Panthers were 19 for 31 from the field in the second half and went 7 for 11 from behind the three-point arc in the half.
Drury is idle until New Year’s Eve when they play Missouri S&T at home. The Lady Panthers host the Lady Miners for a 1 p.m. tipoff at the O’Reilly Family Event Center at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31.
