Bethanie Funderburk scored 22 points - including 17 in the second half - and Kalea Parks added a career-high 17 points (all in the first half) as Drury held off Missouri-St. Louis for a 68-65 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at the O'Reilly Family Event Center Thursday night.
Funderburk hit 13 of 18 free throws and added a season-high nine rebounds as the Lady Panthers squared their overall record at 10-10 and moved to 4-8 in the GLVC, avenging a 58-56 loss at UMSL on Jan. 26.
The Tritons, who lost for the 18th time in 19 tries all-time against DU, dropped to 11-9 and 6-6.
Drury built a 32-25 halftime advantage behind the huge first half by Parks, the freshman forward whose previous high was 15 points last Thursday at William Jewell.
The Lady Panthers, leading the GLVC in free-throw shooting, hit 22 of 34 at the line (65 percent) to make it interesting down the stretch, as they went 18 of 28 at the stripe in the second half. They hit two of their final six to leave the door open for the Tritons,
"It made for an interesting finish ... I wouldn't want anybody else on our team up there taking those shots, and fortunately we held enough of a lead that we could survive (the misses)," Drury coach Steve Harold said. "We talked about in the locker room, you want to celebrate any victory you can get, and we needed this one ... they were above us in the division."
Parks keyed the early run, hitting 8 of 9 shots in the first half and adding six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in her career-high 38 minutes of play.
"I think Kalea has gained a lot of confidence," Harold said.
And then it was Funderburk in the second half, as she finished just 4 of 8 on field goals, but made a living at the line with a career-high 13 free throws made.
Drury won the boards battle 42-40, with Kylie Williamson's eight supporting Funderburk's season-high night.
Alexis Lawrence led UMSL with 12 points, while Kelly McGovern and Jessica Zavoral had 11 each. Devonna Smith had 13 rebounds for the Tritons.
Drury returns to action at The O' on Saturday, playing host to Maryville in a 1 p.m. tipoff that represents the annual Homecoming festivites.
"Our kids' confidence is growing ... we've got to finish games a little better," Harold said. "But I like what I see, and I think we are making progress, getting better and getting wins."
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