Lady Panthers Complete Road Trip Tonight
Drury's Lady Panthers will cap a three-game road swing with a Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division matchup at William Jewell with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff Thursday in Liberty, Mo.
The Lady Panthers are 8-9 overall and 2-7 in the GLVC, while Jewell's Cardinals are 11-6 overall and 5-4 in the league.
Drury is coming off a 58-56 loss at Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday despite 22 points from senior guard Katie Pritchard and a career-high 13 points from freshman forward Kalea Parks, who hit 6 of her 8 shots. The Lady Panthers committed a season-low nine turnovers (including only three in the first half) and shot 50 percent from the field, but couldn't get the key shot to drop in the final minute.
William Jewell, coached by Jill Cress, is coming off a stunning 79-55 victory at West Division co-leader Quincy on Saturday, the Cardinals' second straight GLVC road win after defeating Illinois-Springfield 69-54 on Thursday. Chelsea Meeks, a 5-5 junior, had 19 points, four rebounds and four steals to lead Jewell past Quincy, and was one of five Cardinals to score in double-figures in the game in which WJC made 11 3-pointers.
Katlyn Wood, a 6-0 senior, averages 11.0 points and 6.1 rebounds to lead Jewell, while Meeks adds 10.1 points per game for a Cardinals team that ranks second in the GLVC in scoring defense (56.6 points per game) and leads the league with 12.8 steals.
Drury leads the all-time series with William Jewell 3-0, including a 72-66 win at the O'Reilly Center and a 62-50 triumph in Liberty last season, where the Lady Panthers trailed 46-32 with 12 minutes left but outscored Jewell 20-1 over the final five-plus minutes to get the road victory.
Bethanie Funderburk averages 15.4 points and Pritchard adds 15.1 points for the Lady Panthers, who receive 10.1 points per game from sophomore post Emilie Gray.
Funderburk needs two 3-pointers to move past Magen Brunson (157) for fifth place on the DU all-time treys list. With 1,173 career points, she needs nine points to pass Melanie Oliver (1,181) for ninth place and 12 points to move past Brunson (1,184) for eighth on the all-time scoring charts.
Drury returns home on Saturday to face Rockhurst in a 3 p.m. start in the annual "Overflow The O'" promotion. Fans are encouraged to wear red for that day's women's/men's doubleheader with the Hawks.
Drury Athletics is also offering a new "Final 4-Pack" for the final four remaining home DU women's/men's GLVC basketball doubleheaders for just $20 per ticket - a bargain for eight remaining home games. For more information, visit www.drurytickets.com or the O'Reilly Center box office.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.