The seventh-ranked Drury Lady Panthers pulled away from Missouri Western in the second quarter and blew open the game in the second half in an 80-53 win over the Griffons on Saturday at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Drury improved to 3-1 while Missouri Western suffered their first loss of the year to drop to 3-1.
The Lady Panthers led after the first quarter 16-15 and outscored Missouri Western 24-12 in the second period to take a 42-27 lead at halftime.
A 15-0 run by Drury to start the fourth quarter put the game further out of reach as the Lady Panthers led by as much as 34 late in the game.
“Early, we got hung up on an errant pass or a missed shot and once we got past that and focused on the next possession, we settled down,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “I was proud of our effort and happy to see us get back in the win column.”
Drury forward Hailey Diestelkamp led all scorers with 15 points. The sophomore from Owensville, Missouri was 5 for 7 from the field and 5 for 6 from the free throw line. Diestelkamp’s seven rebounds also led both teams.
The Lady Panthers had four players score in double-figures as Alice Heinzler had 12 points to go with eight steals while Daejah Bernard and Emily Parker both had 10 points.
Drury shot 50 percent from the field in the game going 27 for 54 and they forced 27 Missouri Western turnovers.
Brittany Atkins led the Griffons with 12 points.
The Lady Panthers are idle until Friday, Nov. 24 when they host Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first game of the Oasis Hotel & Convention Thanksgiving Classic. Game time is 5:30 p.m. at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
