No. 8 Drury overcame a sluggish start to roll past Central Missouri 86-71 in a non-conference women's college basketball matchup Tuesday night at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

After falling behind 20-8 in the first period, DU junior Hannah Dressler threw in - literally - a half-court shot just before the quarter horn to pull the Lady Panthers back within less than double-digits at 20-11. 

That opened the long-distance shooting floodgates for the Lady Panthers, who made 14 of 16 shots in the second quarter, outscored the Jennies 35-15 in the period, and took a 46-35 lead into the halftime locker room.

"We came out a little sluggish, and after Hannah hit that one, it ignited us," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "We started hitting shots, we didn't have as many turnovers and we kind of found our groove."

None more than Brook Duncan. The 6-foot senior transfer from Southwest Baptist hit 6 of 8 shots in the period, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, to spark the big turnaround.

Duncan finished with a DU career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, adding seven rebounds in her 30 minutes of play off the bench.

"When she starts feeling it, you give Brook the green light," Miller said.

Annie Armstrong added 17 points (on 7 of 11 shooting) and five assists, while Heather Harman hit 4 of 6 shots and finished with 13 points and a game-high four steals in just 13 minutes off the bench.

Drury shot 56 percent for the game (31 of 55), including 12 of 22 from 3-point range (55 percent). 

The Jennies (1-3) were led by Shelby Winkelmann's 23 points. Winkelmann, a two-sport standout (volleyball) at UCM, hit 7 of 10 shots; the rest of the Jennies made just 16 of 44. 

Ashley Duffy added 10 points for UCM.

Drury, which moved to 11-2 against teams from the MIAA over the last three seasons (3-0 this year), will return to action on Friday-Saturday in the Ramada Plaza Hotel/Oasis Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic at The O'. The Lady Panthers will play Concordia-St. Paul at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Trevecca Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Friday is the fourth annual "Free Friday!" promotion for area fans, with all fans admitted free for the four games on the schedule, starting with Truman State vs. Union men at 1 p.m., No. 5 Drury Panthers vs. Cameron at 3:15 and the women's finale between Maryville and Trevecca Nazarene at 7:45.

Saturday is "Santa Saturday" - the jolly ol' soul will make an appearance from 3 to 7 p.m. on the Panther Deck to take Christmas wish lists and photos with our young fans.