TOPEKA, Kan. - Washburn took charge early in overtime and hit its free throws down the stretch to defeat No. 3 Drury 87-79 in a matchup of perennial national women's college basketball powers Saturday night at Lee Arena.

Drury, ranked No. 1 nationally in this week's new D2SIDA poll, fell to 3-1 in the first loss of head coach Molly MIller's career. The Lady Panthers fell to 0-7 all-time against the Ichabods in Lee Arena, but this was definitely DU's best opportunity to end that skein.

The Lady Panthers led 69-66 after two Alice Heinzler free throws with 58 seconds left in regulation, but watched Washburn send it to OT on a free throw by Casyn Buckman with three seconds left as DU could manage only a blocked half-court try before time expired.

Washburn (4-0) grabbed a quick four-point advantage in the first minute of the extra period - on a pair of free throws and a Buchman bucket and never looked back. Buchman finished with 28 points and nine rebounds to lead the Ichabods, who received 20 points from Taylor Ignoto.

Annie Armstrong had a career-high 24 points, including an 8-for-8 effort at the free-throw line that makes the junior guard perfect in 29 tries this season. Addy Roller added 19 points and four assists and Shelby White contributed 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for DU, which led 32-26 at the half.

"It's a tough pill to swallow ... there are a lot of head's down int he locker room now," Miller said. "But this makes us human, and you learn a lot from losses. I think the girls have bought in that you can learn from these sort of things. Another good atmosphere for women's basketball, and it's tough to play here (Lee Arena) for a reason."

Drury had just five turnovers in the contest, but made just 27 of 76 shots (36 percent) and played the overtime without a fouled-out Sanayika Shields, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds after opening the season with three consecutive double-doubles.

Washburn made 21 of its final 37 shots from the field to finish at 44 percent (31 of 71).

The Lady Panthers return to action next Friday when they host No. 24 Pittsburg State at 5:30 p.m. in the Doubletree Hotel/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, where it's the annual "Free Friday" promotion - all fans admitted free for the four games that day, including the No. 6 DU Panthers against Cameron at 3:15 p.m.

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