Saturday's showdown between No. 12 Drury and No. 25 Bellarmine at The O', at a glance ...
*THE MATCHUP:Â Nationally 12th-ranked Drury (17-3, 10-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play host to No. 25 Bellarmine (16-2, 10-2) Â at the O'Reilly Family Event Center (capacity: 2,850).
*RADIO/TV/INTERNET:Â The game can be heard on JOCK 98.7 FM (online at radiospringfield.com). A free live webcast can be viewed at www.drurypanthers.com/watch as part of the GLVC Sports Network. It will also be televised live by Mediacom Connections 22, with replays airing Sunday (1 p.m.) and Monday (7 p.m.).
*PROMOTIONS:Â It's the fifth annual "Overflow The O'" games at the O'Reilly Center, with all tickets $5 (and kids 12-and-under, like for all home regular season games, admitted for free). All fans who sign up will be eligible to win a giveaway for 2016-17 season tickets to Lady Panther and Panther games during the women's game, and an "All-Access Pass" to all DU-sponsored concerts and events for one year.
*ABOUT THE LADY PANTHERS:Â Drury pushed its winning streak to seven games with a 70-56 victory over Southern Indiana on Thursday at The O'. Briana Jones, who made made five 3-pointers (in nine attempts) all season entering the contest, went 5-for-8 from 3-point range on her way to a career-high 21 points to lead the Lady Panthers, who received a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds from freshman post Adrienne Horn. Senior guard Annie Armstrong averages 14.9 points and junior guard Alice Heinzler adds 12.9 points per game to lead DU, which receives a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per game from junior post Hannah Dressler.
*SCOUTING BELLARMINE:Â Coach Chancellor Dugan's Knights have won three straight since an 83-73 loss at Lewis in a GLVC East showdown on January 23rd, including a 79-64 win at Missouri S&T on Thursday. Sarah Galvin had 17 points and Raven Merriweather added 15 points off the bench to lead BU, which outscored the Miners 40-27 in the second half to pull away for the triumph, the Knights' sixth in seven road games this season. Galvin averages 18.4 points and 8.2 rebounds to lead Bellarmine, which paces the GLVC in scoring at 77.3 points per game. The Knights lead the GLVC in 3-point FG percentage defense (.260) but rank last in FG percentage defense (.427). Drury leads the GLVC in 3-point FG percentage (.423) and is second in overall FG percentage (.461). Bellarmine also ranks second in the league in rebounding (39.6 per game) and leads the conference assists (17.3) and steals (11.0) per game.*THE SERIES:Â Drury leads the all-time series with Bellarmine 9-1, including an 83-71 victory at The O' last season. The Knights' lone victory in the series was an 86-78 triumph in Louisville in 2008.
*MILLER TIME: The 17-3 start has pushed DU coach Molly Miller's record to 43-7 in two seasons - best after 50 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 22-1 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. Â
*ARMSTRONG CLIMBING CHARTS: Armstrong now has 985 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 14th place on the all-time DU scoring charts, surpassing Sanayika Shields (886 points from 2011-15) with her 25-point effort against UIndy at The O' two weeks ago. Armstrong needs 15 points to move past Caitlin Shouse (983 from 2006-10) and into 13th place. Armstrong scored 241 points in her lone season at Eckerd, meaning she's scored 1,229 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 200 of 214 free-throw tries (93 percent) in her three seasons at DU, including a nation-best .956 last season (87 of 91) and 61 of 66 this season. For her college career combined, Armstrong is 234 of 253 at the stripe (93 percent).
*ON DECK FOR THE LADY PANTHERS:Â Â Drury will hit the road next week for the final time this regular season with games at Illinois Springfield on Thursday and McKendree on Saturday. The Lady Panthers are back at The O' for their final three games - February 18th vs. Maryville (Pink Zone for Breast Cancer Awareness), February 20 vs. UMSL (Homecoming) and February 25 vs. Missouri S&T (Senior Night).
