Women's Basketball 1/13/2016 5:46:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 16 Lady Panthers Host UIndy In GLVC Play Thursday At The O'

Women's Basketball 1/13/2016 5:46:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 16 Lady Panthers Host UIndy In GLVC Play Thursday At The O'

Paige Wilson

Thursday's GLVC matchup between the Drury Lady Panthers and Indianapolis Greyhounds, at a glance ...

*THE MATCHUP: Nationally 16th-ranked Drury (10-3, 3-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference) plays host to Indianapolis (3-11, 1-3) in a 5:45 tipoff Thursday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

*PROMOTION: Fans are encouraged to bring gently used youth coats and gloves as part of the Drury Baseball team's Coat and Glove Drive for area kids. Donation bins will be located at the entrance of the arena, or DU Baseball coaches and players who handle parking responsibilities outside The O' will accept any cash donations.

*RADIO/TV/INTERNET: The game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM (online at www.radiospringfield.com), which will join the broadcast at 6 p.m. after it opens on KBFL 1060 AM. A free live webcast can be viewed at www.drurypanthers.com/watch as part of the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN).

*ABOUT THE LADY PANTHERS: A Drury team that's hit a bit of a rough patch - three losses in its last four games - will look to get well in a hurry with a return home for nine of its final 13 GLVC matchups, starting with the visit from UIndy. The Lady Panthers struggled offensively in dropping both ends of last week's big road trip to nationally ninth-ranked Lewis (54-41) and at Wisconsin-Parkside (54-48) on an American Sports Network national TV telecast. It marked only the second time in the program's 16-year history that DU had been held below 50 points in back-to-back games, and first time since early in the 2010-11 campaign. The Parkside game was particularly frustrating, as the Lady Panthers watched a 28-17 lead late in the second quarter turn into a 15-point deficit by late in the third quarter when their shooting went stone cold, but even then still had a chance with a six-point deficit in the final five minutes of the game, but couldn't muster the shots to fall to mount a final run. One of the national leaders in FG and 3-point FG percentage in the season's early going, the Lady Panthers shot 22 percent at Lewis and 31 percent at Parkside from the field and combined to make just 11 of 44 (25 percent) from 3-point range in the two games. Drury has not shot lower than 41 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range in any of its five home games (5-0) this season. Senior guard Annie Armstrong averages 14.5 points and junior guard Alice Heinzler adds 13.1 points per game to lead the Lady Panthers.

*SCOUTING INDIANAPOLIS: Coach Constantin Popa's Greyhounds defeated visiting Missouri-St. Louis 64-55 on Saturday to snap a stretch of five losses in their last six games. UIndy features the league's top scorer in senior guard Princess German, who averages 21.5 points per game. Center Nicole Anderson, a 6-1 junior, averages 14.6 points (10th in the GLVC) and 7.4 rebounds (eighth in the league) to provide the Greyhounds with one of the league's better inside-out punches.

*THE SERIES: Drury leads the all-time series with Indianapolis 7-5, taking two games from the Greyhounds last season. The Lady Panthers broke open a close game with a huge second half in a 78-56 regular season win at UIndy, then defeated the Greyhounds 80-65 in St. Charles in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Championship post-season tourney on their way to the league championship.

*GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY: The 10-3 start has pushed DU coach Molly Miller's record to 36-7 in two seasons as the former Lady Panthers standout herself has made a smooth transition to the head coaching ranks. That includes a 17-1 record in games at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, where their only loss under Miller's watch was a 78-73 decision to Pittsburg State on the second day of the 2014 Thanksgiving Classic. That remains the only game in Miller's coaching career decided by five points or less that her team has lost; she's 6-1 in those situations.

*KEEP FIRING, ANNIE: The Lady Panthers', and one of the nation's, top shooters will be looking to break out of a minor funk with the return home as well. DU senior guard Annie Armstrong, despite going 5-for-21 on 3s over her last four games, still ranks seventh nationally in 3-point percentage at .484 (right behind teammate Heinzler, sixth at .486). Armstrong is shooting 59 percent (16 of 27) on 3s in five games at The O' this season. Armstrong also ranks fourth nationally in FT percentage at .923, having gone 36 of 39 at the stripe this season.

*ARMSTRONG CLIMBING CHARTS: Armstrong now has 881 points in her three seasons with the Lady Panthers after the Springfield Kickapoo HS product transferred back home from Eckerd (Fla.) College, and has moved into 15th place on the all-time DU scoring charts. Armstrong needs six points to surpass Sanayika Shields (886 points from 2011-15) for 14th place. Armstrong scored 241 points in her lone season at Eckerd, meaning she's scored 1,122 points in her four intercollegiate seasons of basketball. After making 34 of 39 free throws (.872 percent) at Eckerd as a freshman, Armstrong has made 173 of 185 free-throw tries (.935 percent) in her three seasons at DU, including a nation-best .956 last season (87 of 91) and 36 of 39 this season. For her college career combined, Armstrong is 207 of 224 at the stripe (.924 percent).

*QUICKIES: Drury and Indianapolis rank 15th and 16th in the GLVC in rebounding in the 16-team league. ... The Greyhounds are 15th in the GLVC in scoring (60.8 points per game) and last in scoring defense (68.1 per game). ... Drury is 14-0 over her career when Armstrong makes three or more 3-pointers in a game. ... Despite its shooting woes over the last four games, the Lady Panthers still rank third in the GLVC in both FG (.455) and 3-point FG (.398) percentage. ... Armstrong is second, Heinzler (.865) and Briana Jones (.844) eighth in the league in FT percentage, while Heinzler ranks third in the GLVC in steals per game (2.92). ... UIndy's German averages 38.14 minutes played per game, far and away the league leader in that category. ...

*ON DECK FOR THE LADY PANTHERS: The Lady Panthers will be back at The O' on Saturday for a visit from GLVC foe Saint Joseph's, led by former DU coach Steve Harold and former Lady Panthers standout Kalea Parks. It's the annual "Educator Appreciation Day", with all area school administrators and their families admitted for free with ID. For tickets, call (417) 873-6389. Kids 12-and-under are always free at all DU regular-season contests.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#44 Sanayika Shields: C; 6' 1"; Senior; Center

#25 Annie Armstrong: G; 5' 8"; Senior; Guard

#14 Alice Heinzler: G; 5' 7"; Junior; Guard

#22 Briana Jones: F; 6' 0"; Junior; Forward

Players Mentioned

#44 Sanayika Shields
: 6' 1"; Senior; Center
: C

#25 Annie Armstrong
: 5' 8"; Senior; Guard
: G

#14 Alice Heinzler
: 5' 7"; Junior; Guard
: G

#22 Briana Jones
: 6' 0"; Junior; Forward
: F