LAKEWOOD, Colo. - Annie Armstrong scored a career-high 23 points to lead five Lady Panthers in double-figures and No. 3 Drury picked up a season-opening, 84-76 victory over the host school in the Colorado Christian Tournament here on Friday night.

Shelby White added 14 points, Addy Roller had 12 points, Paige Wilson scored 11 points and Sanayika Shields had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Lady Panthers, who presented Molly Miller with her first head coaching victory.

Drury started slowly, hitting just 11 of 32 shots in the first half (34 percent) before heating up late to build a 30-27 lead at the half. The Lady Panthers then amassed a 54 points in the second half to snag the victory and set up a Saturday showdown with nationally eighth-ranked Colorado Mesa (4 p.m. CST) in the two-day tourney. Mesa defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 70-59 in Friday's first contest.

"You learn a lot from these (early) games ... I thought we came out and fought hard, and I was proud of our perseverance when things didn't go our way," Miller said. "It took us a while to get going, but once we did and found our comfort zone, I thought we answered."

Drury committed just 10 turnovers while forcing 18 by the Cougars.

The Lady Panthers finished at 39 percent (26 of 66) for the game, but made 25 of 32 free throws to help put the contest away down the stretch. Armstrong, Roller, Wilson and White combined to go 20 of 21 at the stripe.

Taylor Torres had 18 points and Claire Paxton had 17 points to lead Colorado Christian, which like Colorado Mesa, is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC).

Next up for Drury is Mesa, which has gone 62-4 the past two seasons and was one step away from joining Drury in the NCAA-II Elite Eight last season.

"Two Top 25 teams going at it ... we scouted them earlier tonight, and we're going to have to go to work," Miller said. "It's a quicker turnaround for us, but that's why it's nice to have a deep bench. We're pretty excited about tomorrow."

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