RENSSELAER, Ind. - No. 16 Drury used a quick start to build a 17-point halftime lead and went on to a 74-53 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Saint Joseph's on Sunday afternoon at SJC's Scharf Fieldhouse.

Sanayika Shields and Annie Armstrong scored 12 points each and Shelby White and Alice Heinzler added 10 points each as the Lady Panthers improved to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC. The Pumas, coached by former DU coach Steve Harold, fell to 4-8 and 1-2.

Drury raced out to a 16-4 lead in the game's first three minutes and, despite having six players pick up two or more fouls (including three by White), went on to claim a 46-29 lead at the halftime break. Hot shooting was a key, as the Lady Panthers made 14 of 23 attempts from the field (61 percent), including 5 of 6 3-point tries, and all 13 of their free throws.

"That's the beauty of a deep bench," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "We had others step up and keep us in the lead, and that (bench) is going to be huge for us down the stretch. Really proud of the play of our posts, especially off the bench."

Drury hit just 9 of 27 shots after halftime, including 0-for-6 to finish at 46 percent for the game, but limited the Pumas to just 31-percent shooting for the game (16 of 51), including a 3-for-18 effort from behind the 3-point line.

Kalea Parks, who was the GLVC Freshman of the Year at Drury two seasons ago before transferring to SJC, had 18 points, 8 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead the Pumas, but was 7-for-19 from the floor and committed nine of Saint Joseph's 16 turnovers.

Shields, who sat most of the first half with two fouls, got all of her 12 points in the second half, and played just 14 minutes for the contest. She also added a team-high eight rebounds as the Lady Panthers claimed a 42-26 advantage on the boards.

"When you're 3-0 in the conference and those all have been road games, it feels really good," Miller said. "I thought we did a good job of not letting anyone else but Kalea for them catch fire, and kept everyone else under control. I thought we played some great team defense today."

The Lady Panthers finished 23 of 26 at the free-throw line (89 percent).

Drury returns to the O'Reilly Family Event Center for two big games against GLVC East members Southern Indiana (5:45 p.m. Thursday) and Bellarmine (1 p.m. Saturday). As part of "Educator Appreciation Week," all teachers or administrators at all school levels, and their families, will be admitted for free by presenting a valid school ID at the ticket window. For more information, call (417) 873-6389. Tickets are available at www.drurytickets.com.