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SPRINGFIELD – The Drury Lady Panthers clinched the West Division title in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with an 80-62 win over Illinois-Springfield on Homecoming and Senior Day at the O’Reilly Family Event Center on Saturday.
The Lady Panthers improved to 22-3 and 14-1 in the GLVC. They maintained a four-game lead in the division over second place Rockhurst with three games remaining in the regular season. The Prairie Stars dropped to 8-15 and 2-13 in the conference.
“It was a great day…to get a win on Senior Day is extra special,” said head coach Molly Miller. “Illinois-Springfield shot well early. When we made an adjustment to contest shots better, we were able to keep them off the three-point line.”
After owning a 26-20 lead after the first quarter, the Lady Panthers outscored Illinois-Springfield 21-10 in the second period to take a 17-point lead into halftime. Drury built the lead to as much as 22 points, 66-44, late the third quarter.
Senior Briana Jones and freshman Hailey Diestelkamp both had 17 points for the Lady Panthers. Senior Hannah Dressler had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Drury scored 80 points despite going 3 for 20 from three-point range. The Lady Panthers forced 25 turnovers from Illinois-Springfield and Drury had 19 offensive rebounds on their way to a 43-35 advantage on the boards.
Caroline Kelty had 18 points for the Prairie Stars to lead all scorers.
Drury is on the road for their next game. The Lady Panthers are at Maryville on Thursday, Feb. 16 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff in St. Louis, Missouri.
