SPRINGFIELD –The Drury Lady Panthers captured their sixth straight win over Southwest Baptist in the Bank of Bolivar Highway 13 Cat Fight on Tuesday with a 75-66 win at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
The win put Drury at 3-0 to start the season while the Bearcats dropped to 2-1.
The Lady Panthers trailed by two at the half, 33-31, but outscored the Bearcats 44-33 after the break.
Paige Wilson led Drury with 20 points hitting 7 of 14 shots from the field. The senior from Bartlesville, Oklahoma was 4 for 9 from three-point range. Briana Jones added 17 off the bench going 7 for 10 from the field and 3 for 4 from behind the arc.
Drury head coach Molly Miller credited the crowd of 2,090 for the Lady Panthers second half surge.
“This is always the best environment to play in,” said Miller. “We are so fortunate to have fans, both in Springfield, Bolivar and the surrounding area that come out and create an atmosphere that is great to play in.”
The Lady Panthers ended the third quarter on the three-pointer from Briana Jones to put them ahead 53-50, then started the fourth quarter on a Wilson three that extended the lead to 56-50. Drury led by as much as nine in the final period as they held off SBU the rest of the way.
Megan Rosenbohm led Southwest Baptist with 17 points.
Drury won despite being outshot (SBU was 46 percent from the field to the Lady Panthers’ 44 percent), and out-rebounded (36-26). Drury’s defense, however, forced 21 SBU turnovers that resulted in the Lady Panthers having a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I was most proud of this team in overcoming some adversity early,” said Miller. “We were in some early foul trouble but played smart in the second half and I was proud of the girls in how they showed some fight to the end.”
The Lady Panthers have now won eight of their nine meetings with Southwest Baptist in the all-time series in addition to having won six straight over SBU. The win was also Drury’s 26thconsecutive at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Drury was without guard Alice Heinzler and center Adrienne Horn who missed the game with injuries.
The Lady Panthers play another non-conference rival for their next game. Drury travels to Washburn on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game in Topeka, Kansas.
