Ed Beach (Drury Sports Information) RENSSELAER, Ind. – The 12th ranked Drury Lady Panthers had to fight off Saint Joseph’s for a 78-72 overtime win on Thursday in Rensselaer, Indiana.
Drury kept their unbeaten conference record intact as they improved to 6-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and 14-2 overall. Saint Joseph’s dropped to 6-9 and 2-3 in the league.
The Pumas forced overtime when Hannah Albrecht made one of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left in regulation tying the game at 68-68.
Drury then outscored Saint Joseph’s 10-4 in the extra period with all 10 of their points in overtime coming from the free throw line.
Heather Harman scored a career high 26 points for Drury. The junior from Walnut Grove also had seven rebounds and five assists. The 26 points matched the most points scored by a Lady Panthers player this season. Paige Wilson connected on six three-pointers and added 18 points for Drury.
The Lady Panthers led by as much as 17 in the second quarter and ended the first half leading 35-22. Saint Joseph’s cut into Drury’s lead with a 16-4 run to start the second half that pulled them within a point of the lead. The Pumas stayed close in the fourth quarter and outscored the Lady Panthers 22-16 in the final period to draw even.
“I thought we did a great job defensively in the second quarter holding them to six points but we’ve got to put several of those quarters together,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “Saint Joseph’s was the aggressor when we had a 17-point lead and if you give that team life, they are going to be back in the game. Winning on the road in the GLVC is hard and I think our freshmen learned just how hard it really is tonight.”
Former Lady Panther Kaela Parks led the Pumas with 21 points. Parks was the GLVC Freshman of the Year as a member of Drury’s squad in 2012-13. Former Drury head coach Steve Harold took over as head coach at Saint Joseph’s in the 2013-14 season and is in his fourth season with the Pumas.
Drury moved to 12-0 all-time against Saint Joseph’s. The Lady Panthers’ win on Thursday was their first road game in the GLVC this season.
The Lady Panthers continue their road trip on Saturday with a game at the University of Indianapolis. Tipoff is scheduled for noon (Central Time) at UIndy.
