Addy Roller and Alice Heinzler led a balanced Lady Panthers attack with 12 points each and Sanayika Shields put up another double-double as No. 16 Drury rolled to an 89-50 victory over Central Methodist before 1,924 fans on Hiland Dairy Kids Day Thursday morning at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Some 1,300 youngsters from 13 area schools were in attendance as the Lady Panthers moved to 7-2 overall with the win in their final game of 2014. Drury will take next week off as part of the NCAA-II's mandatory "Life In Balance" break, then return the last few days in December to prepare for Great Lakes Valley Conference road tests at Indianapolis (January 2) and Saint Joseph's (January 4).

The Lady Panthers built a 50-19 lead at the half against the Eagles before outscoring their visitors 39-31 in the second half to cruise to the victory.

Shields finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season, this time coming in just 19 minutes of play as Drury coach Molly Miller - who had the "interim" tag lifted from her title on Thursday - was able to make full use of her bench. Eleven DU players played at least 10 minutes, with 12 players reaching the scoring column. 

Heather Harman had 11 points and five rebounds and Lexi Harman, her cousin, added seven points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds in just 12 minutes off the bench, much to the delight of a large contingent of students from their alma mater, Walnut Grove. 

Roller and DU senior Shelby White (eight points, five rebounds) had their own large cheering section from their alma mater (Purdy) as well. 

"I thought today was a fantastic atmosphere in terms of getting the youth of the Ozarks involved with Drury Athletics," Miller said. "Our girls are great role models for all those young students out there who want to have a chance to further their education through sports at the college level.

"I just really appreciate all the schools that made the commitment today to take the time to bring their students here and support us. Their energy gave us a big boost in today's victory. We hope they'll come back next year and a great time again."

Drury finished with a final 40-33 advantage on the boards, and forced 29 turnovers by the Eagles while committing just nine.

Taylor McDowell and Morgan Vetter had 15 points each to lead Central Methodist, an NAIA member that is 6-4 on the season and played Drury as an exhibition contest.