LEBANON, Ill.— Drury forward Hailey Diestelkamp set the program’s all-time scoring record in the Lady Panthers 84-63 win at McKendree on Saturday in Lebanon, Illinois.
Diestelkamp led all scorers with 18 points, and her top-of-the-key three-pointer early in the third quarter broke Drury’s scoring mark with the 1,816th point of her career. She passed Amanda Newton-Plottner (2002-06) to set the record. The senior from Owensville, Missouri, now owns Drury’s career rebounding and scoring record as well records for most points in a season, rebounds in a season, scoring average in a season, and points in a single game.
Drury, ranked number one in NCAA-II, improved to 12-0 and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. McKendree fell to 7-4 and 0-3 in the league.
“Hailey is so deserving of this record as she’s one of the hardest-working and most talented athletes I’ve ever coached,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “She’s not done yet, obviously, but now she’s etched her name in the history books.”
It was Drury’s bench that provided the strength to build an early lead on Saturday, though. McKendree jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the game’s opening minutes, but the reserves for the Lady Panthers provided a spark. Payton Richards hit three three-pointers in the first period as Drury’s bench scored 18 of their 25 points in the opening quarter to take a 25-14 lead after 10 minutes.
“I was really proud of our kids coming off of the bench making plays and doing what they need to do to make a difference,” said Miller. “I thought our intensity went up a notch with them defensively.”
The Lady Panthers built a 45-30 lead at halftime and led by as much as 24 in the second half.
Diestelkamp added four rebounds and four steals to go with her 18 points while Azia Lynch came off the bench to contribute 15 points and seven rebounds. Richards ended the game with 11 points, four assists, and three steals.
Shayli Florine led McKendree with 10 points.
Drury forced 29 turnovers and shot 41 percent in the game, hitting 31 of their 76 shots. McKendree hit 42 percent of their field goals connecting on 25 of 60 attempts but were just 2 for 17 from three-point range.
The Lady Panthers return home next week and will host Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday at 5:45 pm in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
