SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Lady Panthers opened their preseason schedule with a 70-66 exhibition win over Columbia (Mo.) at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Thursday.
 
The Lady Panthers never trailed in the second half and were ahead by as many as 10 in the third quarter but Columbia, ranked 20^th nationally in NAIA-I, mounted numerous rallies to stay close and cut Drury's lead to one with 1:27 to play.
 
Hailey Dietslekamp's free throw after an offensive rebound put the Lady Panthers two points ahead, 68-66, with 1:08 to go and the freshman from Owensville gave Drury a four-point lead moments later on another offensive board that led to a lay-up.
 
"The reason why we scheduled Columbia was to have a game like this," said Drury head coach Molly Miller. "They're a great basketball team that can really challenge us early. To have a game like this where you have to work out scenarios late in a game as coaches and players, that's just going to be beneficial down the road."
 
Paige Wilson led the Lady Panthers with 17 points and hit five three-pointers including one at the buzzer just before halftime that gave Drury a 36-30 lead at the break. Dietstelkamp had 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting while Heather Harmon chipped in with 10 points.
 
"We were a little timid but that might have been first game jitters," said Miller. "But the nuances of playing on the big stage is fixable and I'm excited about the learning opportunity I have with this team."
 
Columbia's Jordan Alford led all scorers with 21 points. The freshman from Thayer went 5 for 9 from three-point range in the game.

Drury senior Alice Heinzler missed the game with a foot injury. 
 
Drury plays their second exhibition game on Tuesday at home against Missouri Baptist. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 

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