The No. 19 Drury Lady Panthers will wrap up a four-game homestand by playing host to Illinois Springfield (5:45 p.m.) on Thursday and McKendree (1 p.m.) on Saturday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers moved up two spots to No. 19 in this week's USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Top 25 national poll and have won 13 of their last 14 games to move to 16-3 overall and a West-leading (by three games) 10-1 in GLVC play. They'll open the week against the Prairie Stars of UIS (5-14, 1-10) on Thursday's Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Night at The O'. All proceeds and donations from the sale of Andy's Frozen Custard cups in the arena that night will benefit the American Heart Association for CHD research and awareness.

The Lady Panthers will play host to McKendree on Saturday's Youth Sports Day, sponsored by The Fieldhouse and The Courts. All area youth who wear a sports jersey or t-shirt from their team, of any sport, get in for free and their parents will pay just $1 admission. The afternoon will also feature post-game autograph sessions with the Lady Panthers and Panthers, "Knockout" games by age and gender for prizes after the DU men's game, and halftime youth basketball games featuring "showcase" teams in grades 2-5 from both The Courts and The Fieldhouse in Springfield. (For tickets, call 417-873-6389).

Drury has put together a four-game winning streak, including a 74-55 thumping of West second-place Quincy last Saturday at The O' behind a DU career-high 19 points from sophomore guard Alice Heinzler off the bench. The Lady Panthers have won 21 of their last 23 games at The O'.

UIS has lost seven straight coming into the contest, including 67-48 to Bellarmine and 70-58 to Southern Indiana at home last weekend. The Prairie Stars are led by Jameeshi Armstrong's 9.2 points per game, one of seven UIS players averaging between six and nine points per contest.

Junior guard Annie Armstrong averages 14.9 points per game to lead three Lady Panthers scoring in double-figures. Senior post Sanayika Shields adds 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds, while junior guard Addy Roller adds 10.4 points per contest.

Drury leads the all-time series with UIS 7-0, including a 78-59 win in Springfield, Ill., last season.

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

GAME NOTES

*Shields now has 525 career rebounds, ranking her seventh on the all-time DU charts. She needs three rebounds to pass Erica Groose (528 from 2008-12) and 11 to move by Kara Rutledge (535 from 2002-06) and into the No. 5 slot on the career list.

*Miller's 16-3 start to her coaching career with the Lady Panthers is just one off the first 19-games pace (17-2) by first-year DU coaches Steve Huber (2013-14) and Steve Harold (2007-08). Nyla Milleson's inaugural DU team was 13-6 through its first 19 games in 2000-01.

*Armstrong leads the nation in FT percentage with her 70-for-73 effort this season (.959). Drury is shooting .814 at the stripe (second by Northern Michigan, also at .814)  with six DU players who have at least 10 FT attempts shooting 80 percent or better.

*The Lady Panthers, while 19th in the national poll, are No. 9 in this week's Bennett Rankings (www.bennettrank.com), and have played the toughest schedule according to the computer rankings of any of the Top 27 teams in the country.