Drury Lady Panthers win battle of top 25 teams

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Annie Armstrong scored 19 points to lead five Lady Panthers in double-figures as No. 12 Drury rolled to an 84-66 win over 25th-ranked Bellarmine in a Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown on "Overflow The O'" day Saturday before 2,505 fans at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

It marked the eighth straight win for the streaking Lady Panthers (18-3, 11-2 in the GLVC) and their 22nd consecutive home victory, tying the school record set by the great Nyla Milleson-coached Lady Panthers teams from 2003-05.

Armstrong also added a team-high nine rebounds on a day when she crossed the 1,000-point barrier (1,004) for her three years as a Lady Panther after the former Kickapoo High star came back home after a freshman year at Eckerd (Fla.) College.

Paige Wilson added 17 points – including 15 in the opening half – while Briana Jones had 13 points, Adrienne Horn finished with 12 points and Addy Roller had 10 points for the Lady Panthers.

"That was just fun," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "Right off the bat, I just have to say thank you, thank you, thank you to these fans. This was a great environment for women's college basketball. Our girls appreciate it so much, they wanted to go back out and thank the fans. It was just really incredible.

"It was really special to have everyone contribute. Our team is looking very good right now … we're very cohesive."

Tied at 15 after one period, the Lady Panthers broke it open with a 28-14 advantage in the second quarter to lead 43-29 at the half. The teams played virtually even from there, until Drury grabbed some late, additional breathing room with a 20-15 advantage over the final 10 minutes.

Sarah Galvin had 28 points and 14 rebounds for Bellarmine (16-3, 10-3).

The Lady Panthers held the Knights to 34 percent shooting (22 of 64) from the field, including 2-for-11 from 3-point range.

Heather Harman had six assists for the Lady Panthers, who also received four blocked shots from Jones and two from Horn.

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