The Drury Lady Panthers have made a living this season off of their defense, and they needed every ounce of it on Sunday to repeat as Great Lakes Valley Conference champions.
Drury shot just 31 percent from the field in the tournament championship game against second-seeded Southern Indiana but held the Screaming Eagles to 52 points and only 21 in the second half in a 62-52 win at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.
The Lady Panthers, the top seed in the tournament and ranked third in the nation in NCAA-II, raised their record to 29-2. Southern Indiana, ranked 17th nationally, dropped to 26-4.
The title is Drury’s fifth GLVC championship and they are the first team to repeat as league champs since Quincy’s back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.
Drury opened the game shooting well as they connected on 8 of their first 17 shots and opened up a 24-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The rest of the game was a struggle. The Lady Panthers went just 1 for 10 from the field in the second period and Southern Indiana drew even at halftime, 31-31.
The Screaming Eagles jumped out to an early lead in the second half, but Drury put together an 11-2 run starting midway through the third quarter to go from one behind to eight ahead, 50-42, with eight minutes left in regulation. Southern Indiana got within six with seven minutes remaining but could get no closer down the stretch.
Drury out-rebounded Southern Indiana 38-32 and had 20 offensive boards. They also forced 31 turnovers against the Screaming Eagles.
“We’ve always talked about the fact that we’re going to win games with our defense,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller, who improved her career coaching record to 111-15 with the win. “There’s no control over whether the ball is going to go in and out, or whether it will bounce your way sometimes. But we can control our defensive intensity, and I thought we got after it.”
Azia Lynch came off the bench to lead Drury in scoring as the freshman from Overland Park, Kansas had 13 points, six rebounds, two steals and went 4 for 6 from the field.
Hailey Diestelkamp, named the GLVC tournament’s Most Valuable Player, had 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and the sophomore hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Lady Panthers to a double-digit lead.
Heather Harman was also named to the GLVC All-Tournament team. The senior from Walnut Grove averaged 10.3 points in the tournament and scored nine points in the title game.
Morgan Dahlstrom led Southern Indiana with 21 points and 12 rebounds. She was the only Screaming Eagle to score in double-figures.
Drury entered the tournament ranked second in the NCAA-II Midwest Region, but Sunday’s win gives the Lady Panthers an automatic berth into the national tournament. The final regional rankings and the national tournament field will be announced by the NCAA Sunday night at 9 p.m. The public is invited to The Lair inside the O’Reilly Family Event Center to watch the women’s and men’s Division II selection show.
