Drury University Athletics

Lady Panther basketball skyrocketed into the upper echelon of NCAA-II women’s basketball in its inaugural season: 2000-01. No one was more important in that team’s success, a team that finished 20-6, or the success of those first four Lady Panther teams than Jill Curry. From the moment she stepped onto the Weiser Gym hardwood the Jefferson City, Mo. native, set a standard of excellence that may be matched, but never surpassed. An honor student who graduated from Drury on May 16, 2004 with a degree in Business Administration, Jill left the Lady Panther program as its all-time leading scorer (1,523 career points), its all-time leading rebounder (785 career rebounds) and its all-time leader in assists (269 career assists) and she had started more games than any other Lady Panther (109). In addition to her Drury records, Jill was a four-time NCAA-II South Central All-Region pick, a four-time Heartland All-Conference selection, including being named the conference MVP in 2003, and she also earned NCAA-II Honorable Mention All America honors according to the Women’s Division II Bulletin and KODAK/WBCA. She also earned Verizon Acadamic All-America honors during her career. Jill helped the first four Lady Panther teams fashion a four-year record of 101-22 and during that time the Lady Panthers won three Heartland Conference titles and made their first two appearances in the NCAA-II national tournament. The 2002-03 team made it to the NCAA-II “Sweet 16” with Jill being named to the South Central Region All-Tournament team and the 2003-04 team, with Jill leading the way, made it to the national championship game before falling 75-72 to California University of Pennsylvania. After earning her undergraduate degree Jill played on year on the Drury volleyball team earning second team Heartland All- Conference while beginning her work on a Masters in Communication, a degree she hopes to complete this coming spring.