Drury's Lady Panthers, coming off their most impressive road swing of the season, jumped six spots to No. 11 in the WBCA/USA TODAY Sports Top 25 Poll two days before a much-anticipated rematch with William Jewell at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers are 20-3 overall, 14-1 in the GLVC and have a chance to avenge that "1" in the latter this Thursday when William Jewell (13-10, 8-7) visits The O' for a 5:45 p.m. tipoff on the annual "Pink Zone/Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness Night" ceremonies. All fans who are breast cancer survivors are invited to join the Lady Panthers on the court for the pre-game national anthem, and two survivors (Roberta Weeden, Scotti Siebert) will serve as honorary coaches on the bench for DU.

All proceeds from the sale of Andy's Frozen Custard cups (south concession stand) will benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks (BCFO). Donations above and beyond the cost of the $2 cups will be encouraged and appreciated.

Drury has won 17 of its last 18 games, with the lone blemish an 80-64 loss to William Jewell in Liberty on January 17. The Lady Panthers have reeled off eight consecutive victories since that setback, including an eye-opening trip north last weekend, when they handed then-No. 1 Lewis its first loss in 24 games on Thursday (75-72), and beat the league's hottest team (Wisconsin-Parkside) 69-67 on Saturday on Sanayika Shields' 18-footer before the buzzer, ending the Rangers' 12-game winning streak.

In Drury's first trip this season to Jewell, the Lady Panthers dug themselves a 12-point halftime deficit (43-31), clawed back to trail by three (59-56) with six minutes to play, only to watch the Cardinals go 4-for-4 on 3-pointers over the next four minutes and bust the game open.

Logan Antenen led four Jewell players in double-figures with 15 points that day, when the Cardinals went 12-for-29 from 3-point range (8 of 14 in the second half). Paige Wilson had 16 points to lead the Lady Panthers, who were just 2-for-16 from behind the arc and shot 44 percent (25 of 57) for the game.

Drury has made 10 3-pointers in each of its last two games, including a remarkable 10-for-14 effort (71 percent) in the victory at Parkside Saturday, where the Lady Panthers let a 15-point lead slip away in the final five minutes, but recovered with Shields' game-winner.

Annie Armstrong averages 14.9 points to lead Drury, and leads the nation in FT percentage at .961 (74 of 77). Shields, the reigning GLVC Player of the Week for the first time in her career, adds 11.9 points and 9.0 rebounds and has posted points-rebounds double-doubles in her last two games and eight times this season. Addy Roller adds 10.6 points per game, and had 15 in the win at Parkside.

Aerial Smith, a 5-8 senior, averages 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, Maddie Nelson (5-8 sophomore) adds 10.7 points and Hayli Jo Smith (6-0 senior) contributes 10.5 points for the Cardinals of coach Jill Cress, who have attempted more 3-pointers (549) than anyone else in the GLVC and share the lead with Quincy (7.65) for most made treys per game. 

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.

GAME NOTES

*Drury leads the all-time series with Jewell 5-3, with the Cardinals having won three of the last five.

*The Lady Panthers' current stretch of 17 wins in 18 games is its longest such hot streak since the 2007-08 Drury squad put together a 22-1 stretch during mid-season - a campaign in which the leading scorer was senior guard (and current head coach) Molly Carter (14.8 ppg). That team finished 28-4, won the GLVC post-season tournament and lost in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional semifinals (to Northern Kentucky).

*Jewell, at 8-7 in league play, is in a four-way tie for second place in the GLVC West. The 12 teams for the league's post-season tournament have been determined, and Lewis, Parkside, Southern Indiana and Drury all have secured first round byes. Should the Lady Panthers win out, they would be the overall No. 1 seed by virtue of their head-to-head victories over all three East squads. Seeds 5-12 will be determined from a group of eight teams that are all either 8-7 or 7-8 entering the final three contests of the regular season.

*Armstrong not only leads the nation in FT percentage, but now ranks 11th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.37). Roller is 19th (2.16). The Lady Panthers continue to rank second nationally as a team in FT percentage (.811), just behind No. 1 Northern Michigan (.813). Drury is 10th in fewest turnovers per game (12.8), an average that jumped after Saturday's season-worst, 26-turnover effort at Parkside.

*Sophomore guard Alice Heinzler, whose two 3-pointers in the final two minutes saved the 75-72 win at No. 1 Lewis, has made multiple treys now in seven of her last eight games. She went a combined 7-for-11 on 3-pointers on the Lewis/Parkside trip.

*The Lady Panthers' 10-for-14 effort from 3-point range in the win at Parkside was just a hair off a school record. Drury made 11 of 14 treys in a win over Quincy on December 8, 2005.

*Drury has outrebounded eight of its last nine opponents, getting beat 42-41 on the boards by Quincy in the only game it hasn't in that stretch.

*Shields now has 554 career rebounds (fifth on the all-time DU list), and her 208 rebounds this season rank as the ninth-best single-season total in school history.

*Drury has won 24 of its last 26 games at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, where the Lady Panthers are 52-13 since the arena opened before the 2010-11 season.

*The Lady Panthers are No. 9 this week in the Bennett Rankings (www.bennettrank.com). Lewis fell from the top spot to No. 2.

 

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

February 17, 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	University of Alaska - Anchorage - 15	3	23-1	727
2	Lewis University (Ill.) - 14	1	24-1	699
3	Limestone College (S.C.) - 1	4	24-1	667
4	West Texas A&M University	6	20-2	599
5	Fort Hays State University (Kan.)	2	22-2	597
6	Columbus State University (Ga.)	7	24-1	573
7	Pittsburg State University (Kan.)	10	23-3	548
8	Michigan Technological University	11	22-1	545
9	Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Pa.)	13	21-2	475
10	Stonehill College (Mass.)	15	20-2	457
11	Drury University (Mo.)	17	20-3	401
12	Adelphi University (N.Y.)	8	22-3	382
13	Emporia State University (Kan.)	9	19-4	349
14	Wayne State University (Mich.)	12	20-3	324
15	Seattle Pacific University (Wash.)	18	19-3	311
16	Wayne State College (Neb.)	19	23-3	296
17	Rollins College (Fla.)	14	19-3	272
18	California University of Pennsylvania (Pa.)	20	21-3	269
19	Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania	16	20-3	219
T20	Arkansas Tech University	24	19-3	153
T20	Florida Institute of Technology	21	19-3	153
22	Humboldt State University (Calif.)	25	20-3	140
23	Union University (Tenn.)	NR	20-3	102
24	Midwestern State University (Texas)	22	19-4	92
25	Cedarville University (Ohio)	23	22-3	59

Dropped Out: Livingstone College (N.C.).

Others receiving votes: University of New Haven (Conn.) 52; University of District of Columbia 42; California State University - Dominguez Hills 29; California State Polytechnic University - Pomona 28; Washburn University (Kan.) 25; Livingstone College (N.C.) 20; California Baptist University 19; University of Southern Indiana 19; Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) 18; Lander University (S.C.) 17; Hawaii Pacific University 14; Ashland University (Ohio) 12; Northern State University (S.D.) 8; Johnson C Smith University (N.C.) 7; Grand Valley State University (Mich.) 6; Missouri Southern State University 6; Colorado Mesa University 5; California State University - San Bernardino 4; Harding University (Ark.) 3; Minnesota State University - Mankato 2; University of Colorado - Colorado Springs 2; University of the Sciences In Philadelphia (Pa.) 2; University of North Georgia 1.