SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Lady Panthers used a quick start and solid team offense to turn back the Maryville Saints 75-49 on Thursday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, improving to 20-2 for the season and 10-1 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
The fourth-ranked Lady Panthers drained seven of their first ten shots to open the contest, then used a 23-3 scoring run to pull away from an eight-all tie with the Saints in the opening quarter and had the game under control from there, leading 31-11 after the first ten minutes.
In addition to their scoring prowess, Drury was able to apply intense defensive pressure, forcing the Saints into fifteen of their game-high twenty-six turnovers in the first half, coasting to a 48-21 advantage at intermission.
“I thought our last game offensively, and defensively we just looked good and in our flow,” said Drury head coach Amy Eagan. “With Paige (Robinson) out, there’s been a lot of just trying to figure things out with her out of the lineup. But, when you lose a key like that, everybody has to do a little bit more, and I think we’re seeing that.”
Balance was the key scoring-wise for the Lady Panthers, with three players reaching double figures, led by sophomore Allie Clevenger, who finished with 13 points. Freshman Anna Hitt and graduate student Terrion Moore added 11 apiece. Clevenger also led the way in rebounding, pulling down six boards, as Drury held a 36-27 edge in that category.
“I just want us to play really hard every night, and I think our kids are,” said Eagan. “I don’t want us to let up at any point, and that’s a key to who we are and how we play.”
The Saints, who dropped to 7-8 overall and 3-6 in GLVC play, saw Antoinette Mussorici and Haidyn Pitsch share scoring honors, with eleven points each.
The Lady Panthers return to action on Saturday when they host Missouri S&T in a 1 pm meeting at the O’Reilly Family Event Center during ‘Overflow the O’ activities.
