SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In a final game showdown between the top two teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Drury Lady Panthers turned back a serious challenge from the Lewis Flyers and prevailed 76-69 on Senior Day at the O’Reilly Family Event Center Saturday afternoon.
Graduate student Kaylee DaMitz-Holt in her final appearance at the O’ took control of a tightly contested game, scoring 10 of the final 12 Drury points on a pair of three-point buckets along with a half-dozen free throws in the final three minutes of action to help seal the win.
“She’s just a leader, a kid that enjoys the big moments, isn’t afraid to take the big shots and it was just unbelieveable what she did,” said Drury head coach Amy Eagan.
The win was the 23rd in a row for the second-ranked Lady Panthers and pushed their record to 27-1 overall and enabled them to once again sweep the GLVC standings with a perfect mark of 20-0 in league play. the fourth time in school history to accomplish that.
Key to the win was again Drury’s pressure on the ball as they forced the Flyers into 24 turnovers and committed just seven, which provided them with 23 more shot attempts and helped offset a stellar 55 percent shooting effort from the visitors.
“This was good for us,” added Eagan. “Lewis is playing some of their best ball and had an eight-game winning streak going. They’re very talented, so for us to step up and do what we needed to do in the last four minutes, I was really proud of these kids.”
DaMitz-Holt finished with 18 points to take game-scoring honors for Drury. Senior Alana Findley added 16, while graduate student Terrion Moore tossed in 12 and senior Mia Henderson chipped in 11.
Jenna Badali and Grace Hilber each had 16 points for the Flyers, who completed the regular season at 19-9 overall and 15-5 in the GLVC.
Next up for the Lady Panthers will be the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament which begins March 2nd in St. Charles, Missouri.
