The Drury Lady Panthers moved up one spot to No. 15 in the USA TODAY/WBCA Division II Top 25 national poll on Tuesday, a status they'll take into Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown with Southern Indiana at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

First-year coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers are 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC entering Thursday's 5:45 p.m. tipoff at The O' against the Screaming Eagles (10-2, 2-0). It's "Educator Appreciation Week" at Drury, with all current teachers and school administrators - and their families - admitted for free to either Thursday's doubleheader with USI or Saturday's twinbill with Bellarmine (1 p.m. start).

Drury will take a six-game winning streak into Thursday's contest, after picking up a GLVC road sweep last weekend at Indianapolis (78-56 on Friday) and Saint Joseph's (74-53 on Sunday). Southern Indiana swept West members William Jewell (80-59) and Rockhurst (76-70) in Evansville over the weekend.

USI features one of the GLVC's top players in 6-1 senior post Anna Heckert, who averages 15.8 points and a league-leading 12.1 rebounds per game. Mary O'Keefe, a 6-0 senior, adds 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, while Tanner Marcum, a 5-8 sophomore, chips in with 10.3 points per game.

The Screaming Eagles of veteran coach Rick Stein will be playing just their second true road game of the season, having fashioned an 8-0 mark at home and a 1-1 record on neutral courts, after splitting two games in Las Vegas near the Christmas break.

Junior point guard Annie Armstrong leads three Lady Panthers scoring in double-figures with her 13.5 points per game. Senior post Sanayika Shields adds 12.0 points and 9.4 rebounds while junior guard Addy Roller contributes 10.4 points per contest for a Drury team with 12 players averaging three or more points per game.

Drury leads the all-time series with USI 10-3, including a 91-89 victory in Evansville, Ind., last season. 

Thursday's game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM, streamed live at www.jock987.com. It can also be viewed in a free, live webcast at www.drurypanthers.com/watch.
 

2014-15 USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll

January 6, 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	Emporia State University (Kan.) - 25	1	12-0	745
2	Lewis University (Ill.) - 5	2	13-0	724
T3	Adelphi University (N.Y.)	6	13-0	641
T3	West Texas A&M University	4	9-1	641
5	Pittsburg State University (Kan.)	5	13-1	635
6	Northern State University (S.D.)	7	13-1	560
7	University of Alaska - Anchorage	3	13-1	534
8	Wayne State University (Mich.)	11	9-1	477
9	Limestone College (S.C.)	9	11-1	450
10	Rollins College (Fla.)	12	9-1	415
11	Nova Southeastern University (Fla.)	14	9-2	376
12	Stonehill College (Mass.)	13	9-1	365
13	Washburn University (Kan.)	8	11-3	333
14	Seattle Pacific University (Wash.)	19	11-1	311
15	Drury University (Mo.)	16	9-2	269
16	Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Pa.)	T25	12-0	267
17	Columbus State University (Ga.)	NR	13-0	224
18	Arkansas Tech University	24	10-1	192
19	Wayne State College (Neb.)	15	11-3	185
20	Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania	T17	9-2	163
21	University of Tampa (Fla.)	10	8-3	159
22	Harding University (Ark.)	T25	10-2	134
23	Florida Institute of Technology	NR	11-0	124
24	Michigan Technological University	20	9-1	122
25	California University of Pennsylvania (Pa.)	23	11-2	103

Dropped Out: Grand Valley State University (Mich.); Missouri Southern State University (Mo.); Saint Cloud State University (Minn.).

Others receiving votes: Livingstone College (N.C.) 92; Fort Hays State University (Kan.) 88; Midwestern State University (Texas) 78; Humboldt State University (Calif.) 56; California State Polytechnic University - Pomona 29; Carson-Newman College (Tenn.) 28; Grand Valley State University (Mich.) 26; University of District of Columbia 26; West Chester University of Pennsylvania 21; Minnesota State University - Mankato 20; Northeastern State University (Okla.) 19; University of Central Missouri 19; Missouri Southern State University 15; Assumption College (Mass.) 13; Johnson C Smith University (N.C.) 12; Colorado Mesa University 11; Philadelphia University (Pa.) 10; Saint Cloud State University (Minn.) 7; University of New Haven (Conn.) 6; California State University - Dominguez Hills 5; California State University - San Bernardino 5; Academy of Art University (Calif.) 4; University of North Georgia 4; California Baptist University 3; Union University (Tenn.) 2; Claflin University (S.C.) 1; University Of Sioux Falls (S.D.) 1.