SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— A career scoring game from junior forward Mia Henderson helped the Drury Lady Panthers hold off Missouri S&T 71-59 on Saturday.
Henderson totaled 16 points and added six rebounds and three steals.
Guard Kaylee DaMItz, scored 12 points, including 10 in the seesaw second half.
The fourth-ranked Lady Panthers led by 19 with 3:42 left in the third quarter, but the lead ebbed away.
MS&T’s Laura Rodriguez made it 63-59 on a spinning floater with 3:35 remaining. But, Drury didn’t allow another point by the Miners before a crowd of 1,800 at the annual Overflow the O’ game at O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Henderson converted on a backdoor pass for a layup on the next possession for a 65-59 lead. “That was big,” said Drury coach Amy Eagan. “They came out in a zone and we just ran a man-to-man play.”
Henderson’s previous game-high was 12 against Minnesota-Duluth in 2019. She tied a career record with the six rebounds.
DaMitz boosted the lead to 10 at 69-59 with a floater and pair of free throws on the next two possessions.
Junior forward Alana Findley just missed her eighth double-double after grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds and scoring eight points. She also made three blocks.
Guards Terrion Moore, Allie Clevenger and Payton Richards scored nine points apiece in the balanced attack as Drury rose to 21-2 overall and 11-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Moore made six rebounds and freshman Anna Hitt made five and added six points.
Center Alex Kerr had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Miners. Rodriguez also finished with 13 points.
The Lady Panthers trailed by one point twice in the first half and then scored 10 straight points on the way to a 34-27 lead at halftime.
“A lot of our runs are triggered by the defense,” Eagan said. “We were sporadic with that. Overall, we held them to 59 points. I’ll take that.”
The same goes for the victory. “Every win is good; 21, I’ll take that.”
The Lady Panthers helped counter an off-day in shooting – 26-of-70 field goals for 37.1 percent – by making 20 offensive rebounds and forcing 24 turnovers.
“If it doesn’t go in the basket, we need to grab the rebound or make a turnover,” Eagan said.
Drury held the Miners to 17-of-50, shooting for 34.0 percent.
The Lady Panthers are now 33-3 all-time versus the Miners, who dropped to 7-11 overall and 4-8 in the conference.
Drury returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a game at Missouri-St. Louis.
