Women's Basketball 2/24/2016 8:03:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 11 Lady Panthers Seek To Keep Momentum Going On Senior Night Against S&T

Women's Basketball 2/24/2016 8:03:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 11 Lady Panthers Seek To Keep Momentum Going On Senior Night Against S&T

Seniors Annie Armstrong, Brook Duncan and Addy Roller

Thursday night's matchup between the 11th-ranked Drury Lady Panthers and Missouri S&T on Senior Night at The O', at a glance ...

*THE MATCHUP: Nationally 11th-ranked Drury (22-3, 15-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play host to Missouri Science & Technology (8-16, 4-13) in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff Thursday in Great Lakes Valley Conference play from the O'Reilly Family Event Center (capacity: 2,850).

*RADIO/TV/INTERNET: The game can be heard on KBFL 1060 AM and JOCK 98.7 FM (the latter starting at 6 p.m.), and streamed live at www.radiospringfield.com. A free live webcast can be viewed at www.drurypanthers.com/watch as part of the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN). It will also be televised live by Mediacom Connections 22 (MC22).

*PROMOTIONS: It's Senior Night at The O', with Lady Panther seniors Annie Armstrong, Addy Roller and Brook Duncan to be honored in pre-game festivities at approximately 5:20 p.m.

*ABOUT THE LADY PANTHERS: Already having clinched its third straight GLVC West title (and ninth in 11 years), Drury will be seeking to keep its momentum going in the right direction headed into the post-season when the Lady Panthers entertain Missouri S&T on Thursday night in the regular season finale. The Lady Panthers have won 12 consecutive games and a program-record 24 straight at home entering the contest with the Miners, and DU will also be looking to protect its No. 3 ranking in the NCAA-II Midwest Region. Coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers already have clinched the No. 2 overall seed for next week's GLVC Championship post-season tournament at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., where they won last year's title, and will open defense of that crown next Thursday against a team and a time TBD after Sunday's first-round games on campus sites between seeds 5-12. The Lady Panthers have won 10 straight by 10 or more points, including last Saturday's 73-59 triumph over UMSL at The O', where the Lady Panthers are 13-0 this season.

*SCOUTING S&T: Coach Alan Eads' Lady Miners played Drury tough in their first meeting this season, a 69-58 win by the Lady Panthers in Rolla on December 12. Annie Armstrong had 18 points and Alice Heinzler added 17 points for DU in the first meeting, in which the Lady Panthers led 20-9 after one quarter, but were played even by the Lady Miners the rest of the way. Raetchel Gray had 14 points and Bria Pierce added 13 points to lead S&T, which held DU to 41-percent shooting (25 of 61) from the field. Pierce, a 5-10 sophomore, averages 11.6 points to lead the Lady Miners.

*THE SERIES: Drury leads the all-time series with S&T 20-6, with six consecutive victories. The Lady Panthers have won 19 of 22 meetings since the teams joined the GLVC in 2005-06.

*MILLER TIME: The 22-3 start has pushed DU coach Molly Miller's record to 48-7 in two seasons - best after 55 games in the program's history - as the former Lady Panthers standout herself has made a smooth transition to the head coaching ranks. That includes a 25-1 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 7-1 in those situations.

*QUICKIES: Miller is now 13-0 as a head coach in the month of February. ... The Lady Panthers have placed five scorers in double-figures in two straight and three of their last five games. ... Drury has had at least three scorers reach double-figures in 12 straight games, or since they failed to have a double-figure scorer in their last loss of the season, a 54-48 setback at Wisconsin-Parkside on January 9. ... Junior guard Paige Wilson is on an incredible streak of having made 15 of her last 17 3-point tries over an eight-game span. She's made 20 of her last 27 shots overall covering the last five games. ... Junior forward/center Hannah Dressler has eight double-digit rebounding efforts this season, and had a string of three straight snapped with her team-leading, nine-rebound game vs. UMSL on Saturday. ... Drury has held 10 consecutive opponents to 40 percent or worse shooting from the field. ... The Lady Panthers have 15 or more assists in a game in seven straight contests and 10 of their last 11. ... Freshman post Adrienne Horn has registered double-digit scoring efforts in seven of her last nine games, all off the bench. She's averaging 12.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in that stretch. ... Senior guard Addy Roller has 27 assists to just six turnovers over her last six games and leads the GLVC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.98. ...

*ARMSTRONG CLIMBING CHARTS: Armstrong now has 1,067 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 12th place on the all-time scoring charts after surpassing Ja'Nell Jones (1,056 from 2007-11) with her 14-point effort Saturday against UMSL. Armstrong needs 48 points to pass Allison Regier (1,114 from 2003-06) for 11th place, and 115 points to move past Melanie Oliver (1,181 from 2007-10) and crack the Top 10. Armstrong scored 241 points in her lone season at Eckerd, meaning she's scored 1,308 points in her four collegiate seasons of basketball. After making 34 of 39 free throws (.872 percent) at Eckerd as a freshman, Armstrong has made 222 of 237 free-throw tries (93 percent) in her three seasons at DU, including a nation-best .956 last season (87 of 91) and 74 of 79 this season. For her college career combined, Armstrong is 256 of 276 at the stripe (.926 percent). Armstrong has made 145 3-pointers in her DU career, and needs six to surpass Kara Rutledge (150 from 2002-06) for eighth place on the all-time DU charts.

*ON DECK FOR THE LADY PANTHERS: Drury will advance to next Thursday's GLVC Championship post-season tourney quarterfinals in St. Charles, Mo., against a foe and a time TBD after Sunday's first-round "play in" games at campus sites between seeds 5-12.

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Players Mentioned

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

#32 Hannah Dressler: F; 6' 1"; Junior; Forward

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

#23 Addy Roller: G; 5' 8"; Senior; Guard

#20 Paige Wilson: G; 5' 8"; Junior; Guard

#34 Brook Duncan: F; 6' 0"; Senior; Forward

#33 Adrienne Horn: C/F; 6' 3"; Freshman; Center/Forward

Players Mentioned

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

#32 Hannah Dressler
: 6' 1"; Junior; Forward
: F

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

#23 Addy Roller
: 5' 8"; Senior; Guard
: G

#20 Paige Wilson
: 5' 8"; Junior; Guard
: G

#34 Brook Duncan
: 6' 0"; Senior; Forward
: F

#33 Adrienne Horn
: 6' 3"; Freshman; Center/Forward
: C/F