EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Drury Lady Panthers captured their fourth Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship with a 67-63 win over Lewis at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana on Sunday.
Drury, the top seed in the tournament and ranked sixth in NCAA-II, improved to 28-3. Lewis, seeded third in the GLVC bracket, fell to 23-8.
The Lady Panthers had to rally from four points down entering the fourth quarter. The Flyers owned a 48-44 lead starting the final period but Drury took the lead, 60-59, with 2:12 remaining on a 17-foot shot by Hailey Diestelkamp.
On the next Lewis possession, Diestelkamp secured a rebound on a missed shot in the lane by Lewis’ Rachel Hinders and the Lady Panthers would hit free throws down the stretch to hold off the Flyers.
Daejah Bernard made five of six free throws in the closing minute to help close out the game. The freshman from St. Joseph’s led Drury with 18 points going 9 for 11 from the line in the game.
“We had confidence in Daejah in those moments,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “She was not afraid of the moment and none of our freshmen were. This was a great team effort today and in the tournament. We had contributions from everyone all weekend and I’m really proud of them. This was a great team moment.”
Heather Harman added 17 points for Drury while Diestelkamp had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Lewis shot 49 percent from the field while the Lady Panthers connected on just 41 percent. The Flyers also owned a 38-28 rebound advantage but Drury still prevailed thanks to going 15 for 21 from the foul line while Lewis was 6 for 9 from the stripe. The Lady Panthers also hit six three-pointers on 18 attempts while the Flyers were just 3 for 11 outside of the arc.
Jessica Kelliher led the Lewis with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The game was close throughout as the neither team had more than a six-point lead. The contest was tied 15-15 at the end of the first quarter and Drury took a 30-29 lead into halftime.
The Flyers outscored the Lady Panthers 19-14 in the third quarter and Drury was trailing going into the final period for the first time since Feb. 4 and for only the fourth time all season.
With 43 seconds remaining, Drury led 60-59 when Daejah Bernard drew a foul and the Lewis bench was issued a technical foul following the call. Paige Wilson hit one of two technical shots while Bernard sank both of her free throws giving the Lady Panthers a four-point lead.
Drury would hit enough free throws to maintain the lead and close out the game for the championship.
The GLVC title is the fourth for the Lady Panthers in their program history and the second one in the three-year tenure of head coach Molly Miller. It marks the eighth conference championship in the 17-year history of Drury women’s basketball counting their four titles in the Heartland Conference.
The win gives the Lady Panthers an automatic bid to the NCAA-II national championship tournament. The NCAA will announce the tournament pairings tonight at 9 p.m. (central). The 64-team field is divided into eight regionals with the top seeded team in each region serving as host for their regional bracket. Game times will be set on Monday.
