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SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— In a showdown between a pair of nationally-ranked teams, the ninth-ranked Drury Lady Panthers battled past the 25th ranked Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana, 77-58, at the O’Reilly Family Event Center on Thursday night.
The game marked the return of Paige Robinson to the Drury lineup after missing almost two months of competition to a wrist injury and the senior showed her importance to the Lady Panther attack, as she scored the first ten Drury points of the game and finished with a game-high 23 as the Lady Panthers improved to 23-3 overall and 13-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
“I worked her out the last three days after practice just to make sure and she did great,” said Drury head coach Amy Eagan. “I knew after that that stepping in tonight you were gonna see the Paige Robinson you’ve seen before.”
After falling behind eight to nothing to open the game, the Lady Panthers outscored the Screaming Eagles 22-5 to end the first quarter, then completed a 16-point turnaround in the opening half to lead 40-32 at halftime.
Drury’s defensive pressure proved to be the major difference in the game, as they forced the Screaming Eagles into 31 turnovers for the contest along with 19 steals and posted a season-best eight blocked shots.
“We were so active, we flew around everywhere and I think we got just about every fifty-fifty ball and a lot of those blocks to tips lead to transition stuff, added Eagan. “We were just really, really active on the defensive end.”
In addition to Robinson’s scoring, the Lady Panthers got a strong second-half performance from graduate players Kaylee DaMitz, who tossed in 16 points after intermission, and Payton Richards, who finished with 13 points.
Junior Alana Findley just missed on an eighth double-double for the season, as she contributed nine points and paced the rebounding with 11.
Southern Indiana (17-4, 11-2) saw scoring honors shared by three players, with Ashlynn Brown, Emma DeHart, and Hannah Haithcock each dropping in 11 points.
The Lady Panthers remain at home for their next outing, Saturday, February 12th, when they host McKendree in a 1 pm tip at the O’Reilly Family Event Center during Homecoming Weekend activities.
