by: Ed Beach, Drury University
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Lady Panthers won their second exhibition game of the preseason with a 98-61 win over Lindenwood-Belleville on Wednesday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Drury pulled away from the Lynx in the second quarter outscoring LUB 25-18 to take a 47-32 lead at halftime.
The Lady Panthers forced 25 turnovers and generated 40 points from them. Drury shot 52 percent from the field in the game hitting 38 of their 73 shots. The Lynx shot 34 percent on 20 of 59 shooting.
Lucia Fernandez, a junior from Spain in her first season at Drury after transferring from Ball State, led all scorers with 22 points going 10 of 15 from the field.
Hailey Diestelkamp had 17 points and eight rebounds as five Drury players scored in double-figures.
“Our message in the locker room at halftime was, while our first half may have been hit-and-miss, our defense can wear teams down,” said Lady Panthers head coach Molly Miller. “Things didn’t go completely our way in the first half. LUB hit four three’s in the first half but then didn’t hit any in the second half. I think that has a lot to do with our defensive pressure.”
Sam Bayer came off the bench to lead Lindenwood-Belleville with 14 points.
Drury is idle until they begin their regular season on Fri., Nov. 10 against Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee.
