SPRINGFIELD — Drury Lady Panthers coach Molly Miller has announced the additions of Daejah Bernard and Alyssa Owens to the 2016-7 women's basketball recruiting class.
Bernard is a 5-foot-8 point guard from St. Joseph (Mo.) Benton High School, while Owens is a 5-8 guard from Russellville (Ark.) High School.
Bernard was a four-year letterwinner and the St. Joseph News-Press Player of the Year at Benton, where she was a three-time All-City, All-Conference and All-District selection and an All-State choice as a senior for Missouri's Class 4 state champions (with a 31-0 final record). She averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.1 steals as a senior, and was also a state track meet participant in her prep career in the high jump and long jump.
Owens, also a four-year standout for Russellville (who was moved up to the varsity while in junior high), averaged 12.4 points, 5 assists and 3 steals this past season for the Lady Cyclones. She's the school's career scoring leader with 1,314 points, and helped Russellville reach the Class 6A state championship game as a senior.
"We're very excited to add two young ladies with athleticism, competitive fire and a lot of experience in big-time games from their high school careers, which will transition well into the expectations of our Lady Panthers Basketball program," Miller said. "We believe they will be great additions to our program and the expectations we have of student-athletes at Drury University.
"Daejah is a proven winner and brings an athleticism and slashing ability to our team where we previously lacked. She has one of the quickest first steps I've ever seen and the way she gets down and guards is exactly the type of defense we preach. She will be able to come in and make an immediate impact as a freshman.
"We lost some great shooters to graduation this year, some of the best ever to come through Drury's doors. Fortunately, Alyssa has the shooting capability to fill some of those voids. She is also a hard worker who wants to compete and has the drive to win, the exact culture we are trying to continue to build upon with this incoming class."
Bernard and Owens join November signees Lexie Vaught of Crane, Brooke Stanfield of Republic and Hailey Diestelkamp of Owensville in forming the 2016-17 recruiting class for the Lady Panthers, who are coming off a 26-5 campaign and a march into the NCAA-II Sweet 16 this past season.
