A miserable shooting first half left the No. 6 Drury Lady Panthers a hole they couldn't fully climb out of, as ninth-ranked Lewis held off a DU charge for a 54-41 victory in a matchup of Great Lakes Valley Conference and national D-II powers Thursday night at Neil Carey Arena.
Lewis, in avenging a 75-72 loss to DU last February on the same floor when the Flyers were unbeaten and ranked No. 1 nationally, improved to 13-1 overall and 4-0 in GLVC play.
Drury fell to 10-2 and 3-1.
The Flyers scored the game's first nine points and never looked back. Drury trailed 18-8 after one quarter and 30-16 at halftime, with the 16 first-half points their lowest total in an opening half since they trailed Wisconsin-Parkside 25-14 at the break in the final game of the season, a GLVC tourney first-round loss to close the 2012-13 campaign.
Drury made just 4 of 28 shots in the half, including an 0-for-11 showing from 3-point range.
"I was at a loss when I saw the 0-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half … our 3s were just not falling," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "I thought we had some good practices over the break, but we just couldn't hit anything offensively. I don't think we were very aggressive or very attacking on offense … it was a tough one. I'm disappointed on that side of the ball, but on the flip side, that might have been our best defensive game of the year. I was proud of our defensive effort … we've just got to figure out how to put the sides of the ball together."
Returning All-America senior forward/center Mariyah Brawner-Henley finished with 13 points (on 5-of-17 shooting) and 23 rebounds to lead the Flyers, who watched Drury cut the deficit down to six points on a couple of fourth-quarter occasions – including 45-39 with four minutes to play – but had an answer to keep the Lady Panthers from closing further each time.
Senior guard Annie Armstrong was the only Lady Panther to reach double-figures, finishing with 17 points. But the nation's leading 3-point FG percentage shooter coming into the contest joined her teammates in a tough shooting night, going 1-for-7 behind the arc and 5-for-13 overall.
Drury finished at 13 of 58 shooting (22 percent) for the game, including a 3-for-21 effort from 3-point range.
Hannah Dressler grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Panthers before fouling out late in the third quarter after picking up her third, fourth and fifth fouls in a 38-second span. Freshman post Adrienne Horn gave DU some quality minutes in Dressler's absence, finishing with four points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in 17 minutes.
"Adrienne did a really good job of stepping up," Miller said.
Lewis shot just 32 percent (17 of 53), and the nation's leading 3-point shooting percentage team coming in made just 3 of 12 shots from behind the arc. Jessica Kelleher and Alyssa Siwek added 10 points each for the Flyers, who won the boards battle 46-39.
The Lady Panthers will continue to Kenosha, Wis., for a 5 p.m. GLVC matchup at Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday. The game will televised nationally by the American Sports Network, and picked up in the Springfield-area market by KOZL.
"It doesn't get easier from here," Miller said. "Parkside a very deep and balanced team … it's going to be great exposure for our girls, our program, our institution and Division II. This one stings a little bit because we played such good defense, but have to put this behind us, have a good practice tomorrow and get ready for Parkside."
