The first line of the 2007-08 profile on Lindsay Ballweg in the Drury Lady Panther basketball yearbook stated “...the University of Kansas transfer will provide immediate athleticism and offensive punch to the Lady Panthers’ lineup.” That comment, in hindsight, was very much an understatement. Over the next three years, Lindsay’s offensive production and her ability to score was a major factor in the team’s success.
Reflecting on Lindsay, then first-year Lady Panther head coach Steve Harold remembers that he was looking through recruiting files and came upon Lindsay’s folder. “I gave Lindsay a call and she went on to become my first recruit to Drury. That was the best call I ever made while I was at Drury.” Without a doubt, the Lady Panther and entire Drury Community echoes that sentiment.
A native of Shawnee, Kansas and a 2006 graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Lindsay was a three-time all-state pick, twice being named to the state’s first team. She earned all-metro, All-Johnson County honors and was a 2006 McDonald’s All-American nominee. In her four years at Aquinas Lindsay helped lead her team to a Kansas 6A state title and four straight Final Four appearances. She set the Aquinas High School single game scoring record with 38 points and once had seven three-pointers in a single contest.
Lindsay arrived on the Drury campus in the fall of 2007 after one year at the University of Kansas. Over the next three years she scored 1,502 points, ranking her #7 on the Lady Panthers’ all-time scoring list. The 644 points she scored in the 2009-10 season remain the single-season scoring record. That year she also set the record for most three-pointers made in a single season with 112. The Lady Panthers enjoyed phenomenal team success from 2007-10, winning two GLVC championships and playing in three straight NCAA-II national tournaments. While the Lady Panthers were a conference, regional and national force those three years (three year record of 75-21), Lindsay’s individual contributions also caught the eye of the NCAA-II. She earned All-America honors, was named to the 2010 NCAA-II Midwest Region First Team and was a three-time All GLVC selection.
Lindsay played in every Lady Panther game (96) during her three-year career and started all but one. During that stretch the Lady Panthers finished 28-7 in 2010, won the GLVC title and advanced to the NCAA-II “Sweet 16”. Lindsay averaged a team-high 18.4 points per game that year. In 2009 she averaged 15.5 ppg. for the 19-10 squad that qualified for the NCAA-II national tournament. In 2008 Drury finished 28-4, made the NCAA-II Round of 32 and were GLVC champs with Lindsay averaging 12.8 ppg., her first year as a Lady Panther. In her 96-game career, Lindsay led the Lady Panthers in scoring 41 times. She graduated as the program’s all-time leader in career three-point field goal percentage (43.9 percent) and still holds the record for career free throw percentage (88.6 percent). She also ranks 10th in career assists (224) and shares the single game record, twice making seven treys in a game.
Though she is much more than a one-dimensional player, there was no doubt that Lindsay’s shooting ability separated her from the field. “Lindsay is absolutely one of the best shooters I have ever coached,” Coach Harold emphatically stated. “She was tremendously accurate from beyond the arc, this coming from a young lady who came to Drury with a shoulder injury. But she worked tirelessly and she rebuilt her shot, a shot that became picture perfect.” Those long hours on the basketball floor also created a bond between coach and player that continues to this day. “I am extremely proud and honored to have coached this fine young lady and to this day we stay in very close contact.” He concluded, “I could not be more proud of any two players who I have ever coached. Lindsay Ballweg and Melanie Oliver are both most deserving of the honor of being inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame. I don’t think that you could mention one without the other. It is fitting that both go into the Hall of Fame in the same year off the same teams.”
Lindsay is an account manager with Keypath Education. She first worked in Kansas City and then continued with Keypatch while pursuing her master’s degree as she served as a basketball graduate assistant at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She and her husband, Kyle, a Drury golfer and graduate now live in Germantown, Tennessee.