ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - A miserable shooting first half left the No. 6 Drury Lady Panthers a hole they couldn't fully climb out of, as ninth-ranked Lewis held off a DU charge for a 54-51 victory in a matchup of Great Lakes Valley Conference and national D-II powers Thursday night at Neil Carey Arena.

Lewis, in avenging a 75-72 loss to DU last February on the same floor when the Flyers were unbeaten and ranked No. 1 nationally, improved to 13-1 overall and 4-0 in GLVC play.

Drury fell to 10-2 and 3-1.

The Flyers scored the game's first nine points and never looked back. Drury trailed 18-8 after one quarter and 30-16 at halftime, with the 16 first-half points their lowest total in an opening half since they trailed Wisconsin-Parkside 25-14 at the break in the final game of the season, a GLVC tourney first-round loss to close the 2012-13 campaign.

Drury made just 4 of 28 shots in the half, including an 0-for-11 showing from 3-point range.

"I was at a loss when I saw the 0-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half ... our 3s were just not falling," Drury coach Molly Miller said. "I thought we had some good practices over the break, but we just couldn't hit anything offensively. I don't think we were very aggressive or very attacking on offense ... it was a tough one. I'm disappointed on that side of the ball, but on the flip side, that might have been our best defensive game of the year. I was proud of our defensive effort ... we've just got to figure out how to put the sides of the ball together."

Returning All-America senior forward/center Mariyah Brawner-Henley finished with 13 points (on 5-of-17 shooting) and 23 rebounds to lead the Flyers, who watched Drury cut the deficit down to six points on a couple of fourth-quarter occasions - including 45-39 with four minutes to play - but had an answer to keep the Lady Panthers from closing further each time.

Senior guard Annie Armstrong was the only Lady Panther to reach double-figures, finishing with 17 points. But the nation's leading 3-point FG percentage shooter coming into the contest joined her teammates in a tough shooting night, going 1-for-7 behind the arc and 5-for-13 overall.

Drury finished at 13 of 58 shooting (22 percent) for the game, including a 3-for-21 effort from 3-point range.

Hannah Dressler grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Panthers before fouling out late in the third quarter after picking up her third, fourth and fifth fouls in a 38-second span. Freshman post Adrienne Horn gave DU some quality minutes in Dressler's absence, finishing with four points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in 17 minutes.

"Adrienne did a really good job of stepping up," Miller said.

Lewis shot just 32 percent (17 of 53), and the nation's leading 3-point shooting percentage team coming in made just 3 of 12 shots from behind the arc. Jessica Kelleher and Alyssa Siwek added 10 points each for the Flyers, who won the boards battle 46-39.

The Lady Panthers will continue to Kenosha, Wis., for a 5 p.m. GLVC matchup at Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday. The game will televised nationally by the American Sports Network, and picked up in the Springfield-area market by KOZL.

"It doesn't get easier from here," Miller said. "Parkside a very deep and balanced team ... it's going to be great exposure for our girls, our program, our institution and Division II. This one stings a little bit because we played such good defense, but have to put this behind us, have a good practice tomorrow and get ready for Parkside."