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The ninth-ranked Drury Lady Panthers limited visiting Truman State to one made field goal in the opening quarter of their Great Lakes Valley Conference game Thursday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center and coasted to their 19th win of the season claiming a 72-46 win over the Bulldogs.
In what’s become an all too familiar scene for their opponents, the Lady Panthers used a smothering defense to race to a 22-4 lead over Truman State in the opening period forcing early turnovers that led to easy transition points. Fourteen first-half miscues by the Bulldogs enabled the Lady Panthers to secure a 43-18 lead at the intermission, and there was no looking back.
“I was anxious to see how we’d play a fifth quarter,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “Meaning, how we would respond to the high of the Overflow the O’ game on Saturday and to see them come out and beat the dribbler, rotate, then grab a rebound and score, it was good to see them do that.”
Sophomore Hailey Diestelkamp scored 17 of her game-high and season-high 22 points in the second half as the Lady Panthers (19-2, 10-1 in the GLVC) were able to overcome losing the rebounding battle, 36-31 to the Bulldogs in an up-tempo contest that was never in doubt.
The Lady Panthers shot 44% for the game while holding Truman State to 39% and held their opponent to under 50 points for the third consecutive contest.
“We talk about that all the time,” remarked Miller. “We want our margin of victory to be big, and that’s what top ten, national championship contending teams do.”
Drury placed three others in double-figure scoring with junior Lucia Fernandez dropping in 14, while seniors Alice Heinzler and Heather Harmon added 13 and 11 respectively.
Junior Brooke Bailey was the lone Turman State (10-8, 5-6 in the GLVC) player to reach double figures, pacing her team with 13.
The Lady Panthers return to action on February 3, at Missouri S & T. Game time is 5:30 p.m. in Rolla, Missouri.
