SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The third-ranked Drury Lady Panthers needed less than a half-quarter of play to set an unstoppable tone and rolled to an 84-54 win over the William Jewell Cardinals at the O’Reilly Family Event Center Thursday night to extend their current winning streak to thirteen in a row.
The Lady Panthers turned it on from the start, outscoring William Jewell 19-2 over the first five minutes of play and never looked back. They went on to claim a 53-20 halftime lead as they defensively limited the visitors to scoring opportunities in the first two periods.
The win, Drury’s sixth of the season by more than a 30-point margin and moved them to 17-1 for the season with a perfect 10-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
“I think for us it’s about being disciplined, about creating habits, no matter who we’re playing, just seeing different things we need to do because the rest of the season it’s going to be important for us,” said Drury head coach Amy Eagan. ”
Freshman Reese Schaff came off the bench to help pace the win, as she posted her second double-double of the season, with 12 points and 11 rebounds, the latter helping the Lady Panthers to a solid 43-31 advantage on the boards.
“I’ve said it from the beginning of the season, Reese is just a great player, her work ethic, her mentality, or her skills, she’s just the complete package, and we’re lucky she’s here for us,” added Eagan.
In addition to Schaaf, the Lady Panthers placed four others in double-figure scoring. Graduate student Kaylee DaMitz-Holt had a team-best 16 points, junior Madi Braden added 12, while seniors Mia Henderson and Alana Findley finished with ten points each.
The Cardinals, who dropped to 4-16 on the season and 2-8 in GLVC play, were led by Libby Arnold, who finished with ten points.
The Lady Panthers are back in action on Saturday when they will host Truman State in a 1 pm GLVC contest at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
