Drury's Lady Panthers, will take an eight-game winning streak and a No. 14 national ranking in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 poll into a Thursday evening Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup at Rockhurst (5:15 p.m. tipoff) in Kansas City.
The Lady Panthers (11-2, 5-0 in the GLVC) moved up one spot in the national poll released on Tuesday. Drury has not lost since suffering back-to-back setbacks at current No. 18 Washburn (87-79 in overtime) in Topeka, Kan., on November 22nd and a 78-73 decision to current No. 2 Pittsburg State six days later in the Doubletree Hotel/Houlihan's Thanksgiving Classic.
Coach
Molly Miller's Lady Panthers, coming off home wins over Southern Indiana and Bellarmine last weekend at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, will now hit the in-state road for four in a row for GLVC play, starting with Thursday's trip to KC to take on Rockhurst (7-6, 1-4).Â
Coach Larry Park's Hawks have dropped three of their last four games, but beat Saint Joseph's 72-55 on Thursday in Kansas City before falling to Indianapolis 60-52 at home two nights later. Rockhurst is the only team this season to have defeated Pitt State, that a 72-62 upset in the DU Thanksgiving Classic a night after PSU dropped the Lady Panthers.
Mary Dineen, last year's GLVC Freshman of the Year, averages 14.4 points and is shooting 43 percent from 3-point range (25 of 58) to lead the Hawks. Dineen is averaging 18.8 pionts and 4.6 rebounds in RU's five GLVC contests. Freshman Lauren Meyers adds 14.0 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game.
Annie Armstrong, the reigning GLVC Player of the Week, averages 14.2 points and is the nation's leading free-throw shooter at 98 percent (46 of 47) to pace the Lady Panthers, who receive 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds from
Sanayika Shields.
Addy Roller adds 10.6 points and paces the league with her assist-turnover ratio of 44 to 16.
Drury leads the all-time series with Rockhurst 27-1, with 27 consecutive victories for the Lady Panthers. Drury won 84-79 in overtime last year in Kansas City after posting an 86-64 victory over the Hawks in Springfield a month earlier.
Thursday's game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM, streamed live on www.jock987.com. It can also be viewed in a free, live webcast at www.rockhursthawks.com/watch.
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January 13, 2015
The USA TODAY Sports Division II Top 25 women's basketball poll, with first place votes to the right, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th.
| Rank | Institution-First Place Votes | Previous Rank | Record | Total Points |
| 1 | Lewis University (Ill.) - 30Â | 2 | 15-0 | 798 |
| 2 | Pittsburg State University (Kan.) | 5 | 15-1 | 713 |
| 3 | Emporia State University (Kan.) - 2Â | 1 | 13-1 | 693 |
| 4 | Northern State University (S.D.) | 6 | 15-1 | 677 |
| 5 | University of Alaska - Anchorage | 7 | 15-1 | 624 |
| 6 | Wayne State University (Mich.) | 8 | 11-1 | 547 |
| 7 | Adelphi University (N.Y.) | 3 | 14-1 | 542 |
| 8 | Limestone College (S.C.) | 9 | 13-1 | 533 |
| 9 | Stonehill College (Mass.) | 12 | 11-1 | 499 |
| 10 | Rollins College (Fla.) | 10 | 11-1 | 474 |
| 11 | West Texas A&M University | 3 | 10-2 | 417 |
| 12 | Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) | 14 | 12-1 | 407 |
| 13 | Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) | 11 | 11-2 | 375 |
| 14 | Drury University (Mo.) | 15 | 11-2 | 319 |
| 15 | Arkansas Tech University | 18 | 12-1 | 278 |
| 16 | Florida Institute of Technology | 23 | 14-0 | 276 |
| 17 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Pa.) | 16 | 13-1 | 273 |
| 18 | Washburn University (Kan.) | 13 | 12-3 | 260 |
| 19 | Columbus State University (Ga.) | 17 | 14-1 | 205 |
| 20 | Midwestern State University (Texas) | NR | 13-1 | 181 |
| 21 | Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania | 20 | 11-2 | 180 |
| 22 | California University of Pennsylvania (Pa.) | 25 | 13-2 | 163 |
| 23 | Michigan Technological University (Mich.) | 24 | 11-1 | 161 |
| 24 | Wayne State College (Neb.) | 19 | 13-3 | 160 |
| 25 | Harding University (Ark.) | 22 | 11-2 | 153 |
Dropped Out:Â University of Tampa (Fla.).
Others receiving votes:Â Fort Hays State University (Kan.) 123; Livingstone College (N.C.) 114; Humboldt State University (Calif.) 59; University of Central Missouri 50; University of New Haven (Conn.) 23; Carson-Newman University (Tenn.) 19; Johnson C Smith University (N.C.) 13; California State Polytechnic University - Pomona 9; California State University - Dominguez Hills 9; University of West Florida 9; Colorado Mesa University 8; Philadelphia University (Pa.) 7; University of District of Columbia 7; California State University - San Bernardino 6; Union University (Tenn.) 6; University of Central Oklahoma 5; Cedarville University (Ohio) 4; Minnesota State University - Mankato 4; University of California - San Diego 4; California Baptist University 3; Grand Valley State University (Mich.) 3; Northwood University (Mich.) 2; University of North Georgia 2; University of Colorado - Colorado Springs 1; University of Tampa (Fla.) 1.
