LAKEWOOD, Colo. - Annie Armstrong scored 19 points to pace four Lady Panthers in double-figures, and No. 3 Drury turned an expected showdown between Top 10 programs into a blowout, running away from No. 8 Colorado Mesa for an 81-58 victory to go 2-0 in the Colorado Christian Tournament Saturday afternoon.

Armstrong, who scored a career-high 23 points in Friday's win over the host school, went 10-for-10 at the free-throw line - she's now made all 17 her attempts at the stripe to start the season - and added seven rebounds as Drury made it 2-for-2 in their debut for first-year head coach Molly Miller.

"That was fun," Miller said. "We knew were going to get tested today, and the team that I saw take the court (today) was the team that I see in practice every day. We got the first-game jitters out of the way and came out and played well."

Freshman Heather Harman had 13 points in 14 minutes off the bench (including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range), Sanayika Shields had 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and Paige Wilson added 10 points, including some big, early 3-pointers to help DU pull away for good.

The Lady Panthers led 14-2 in the first four minutes, saw Mesa pull back to within three (23-20), then put together a 16-5 run to pull away and were never threatened again.

Drury led 46-31 at the half as nine different Lady Panthers scored in the first 20 minutes, when DU hit 14 of 27 shots (including its first five). 

The Lady Panthers finished 24 of 51 (47 percent) from the field and made 26 of 29 free throws (90 percent) in a game they would lead by as many as 29 points over a Colorado Mesa program that was 62-4 over the past two seasons, losing in the regional finals last year to eventual national runner-up West Texas A&M. The Mavericks, who defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 70-59 on Friday, went 1-1 against NCAA Division I teams in the preseason, including a 67-61 victory at D-I Utah Valley.

Miller praised the work of the DU bench for providing a lift for a team that was playing its second game in less than 24 hours, after finishing late Friday with the win over Colorado Christian - the offensive work of Heather Harman, the defensive skills of Lexi Harman, the spark from Alice Heinzler and the solid inside play of Briana Jones and Ana-Carlota Faussurier, to name a few.

But it's clear through two games that the Lady Panthers have identified their ringleader with Armstrong, the former Springfield Kickapoo standout who transferred back to Drury from Eckerd College last season. She's averaging 21.0 points per game after scoring at a 9.0 per game clip last season. 

And Armstrong, one of the best in the nation at taking care of the basketball last year, has turned it over once in 69 minutes of court time this season.

"I'm going to call Annie 'Miss Reliable,' because she just gets it done," Miller said. "When we need something done, we just get the ball in her hands and she makes it happen."

Drury will play its home opener on Tuesday night when the Lady Panthers and Panthers entertain rival Southwest Baptist in the annual Bank of Bolivar "HIghway 13 Cat Fight" at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. 

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