Women's Basketball 3/2/2016 8:03:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 10 Lady Panthers Begin Quest To Defend GLVC Title Thursday Against Rockhurst

Women's Basketball 3/2/2016 8:03:00 AM Scott Puryear, Associate AD For Marketing & Communications

No. 10 Lady Panthers Begin Quest To Defend GLVC Title Thursday Against Rockhurst

Thursday's GLVC Championship Tournament quarterfinal matchup between No. 2 seed Drury and No. 7 seed Rockhurst, at a glance ...

*THE MATCHUP: Nationally 10th-ranked Drury (23-3) will face Rockhurst (15-12) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship post-season tournament, being played at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

*RADIO/TV/INTERNET: The game can be heard on KBFL 1060 AM and streamed live at www.radiospringfield.com. A free live webcast can be viewed on the GLVC Sports Network at www.glvcsports.com/watch. All 14 games, men's and women's, of the GLVC tourney will be streamed and available for free.

GLVC Championship Central | Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

*IN OTHER GAMES: In Thursday's other GLVC Championship tourney quarterfinal matchups at Family Arena, No. 3 seed Bellarmine will face No. 6 seed Saint Joseph's at noon, No. 4 seed Quincy will play No. 5 seed Truman State at 6 p.m. and top seed Lewis will take on No. 8 seed Indianapolis at 8:30 p.m. Semifinals will be played at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, with Sunday's championship game slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

*ABOUT THE LADY PANTHERS: Coach Molly Miller's Lady Panthers open their GLVC title defense with a test against post-season newcomer Rockhurst, which won a GLVC tourney game for the first time since joining the league in 2005-06 when the seventh-seed Hawks downed No. 10 seed Wisconsin-Parkside 73-62 on Sunday in Kansas City. It was Rockhurst's first post-season victory of any time since an NAIA tourney triumph in 1998. It's a rematch of a January 21 meeting between the Lady Panthers and Hawks in KC, when Drury won 82-64 behind some hot 3-point shooting. Alice Heinzler went 7-for-10 from 3-point range en route to a team-high 24 points - and Drury was 13 of 21 (62 percent) as a team from behind the arc - as the built a 39-27 lead by halftime and stretched it as high as 26 points in the fourth quarter to pick up the victory. Drury has won 13 consecutive games entering the GLVC tourney, including a 95-57 thrashing of Missouri S&T last Thursday on Senior Night, when the Lady Panthers picked up their program-record 25th consecutive victory at The O'. Annie Armstrong averages 15.2 points and Heinzler adds 11.2 points to lead the Lady Panthers, who receive 7.6 points and 7.4 rebounds from Hannah Dressler.

*SCOUTING ROCKHURST: Coach Larry Park's Hawks are led by junior guard Mary Dineen and her 18.6 points per game (third-best in the GLVC), while 5-10 senior Lauren Meyers adds 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. Jillian Myers, a 5-3 sophomore, led the GLVC with her 3.48 steals per game. In the regular season meeting with Drury, Dineen led Rockhurst with 17 points, while Meyers added 15 points and 15 rebounds.

*THE SERIES: Drury leads the all-time series with Rockhurst 30-1, with the Lady Panthers riding a string of 30 consecutive victories since the Hawks beat Drury 72-69 in overtime in Kansas City in the first-ever meeting between the teams in January of 2001.

*MILLER TIME: The 23-3 start has pushed DU coach Molly Miller's record to 49-7 in two seasons - best after 56 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 26-1 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.

*BALANCING ACT: Drury's tremendous depth and balance has truly shown through during the 13-game winning streak and lately in particular. The Lady Panthers have placed five players in double-figures in three consecutive games and four of their last six games. And of their nine available players, all nine have reached double-figures individually in at least five games each this season. Eight of the nine have led the team in scoring in at least one game this season, with only their hottest current shooter - junior guard Paige Wilson - having failed to do so. Wilson had 17 points against Bellarmine three weeks ago and has made an incredible 15 of her last 17 3-point attempts, and 22 of her last 30 shots overall, covering the past eight games. Drury has had at least three scorers reach double-figures in each game of the 13-game win streak.

*QUICKIES: Drury continues to lead NCAA-II nationally in 3-point FG percentage (.438) and ranks eighth in FG percentage (.468). ... Armstrong is third nationally in FT percentage (.933) and seventh in 3-point FG percentage (.466), while Heinzler (.459) is 12th nationally. ... Junior forward/center Hannah Dressler has nine double-digit rebounding efforts this season, including a career-best 14 rebounds in the win over S&T last Thursday. ... Freshman post Adrienne Horn has registered double-digit scoring efforts in eight of her last 10 games, all off the bench. She's averaging 12.1 points in that stretch. ... Senior guard Addy Roller had a career-high 11 assists and no turnovers in the win over S&T and now has put up 38 assists to just six turnovers over her last seven games. She leads the GLVC in assist/turnover ratio at 2.24, well ahead of second-place Jillian Myers of Rockhurst (1.95). Roller ranks 21st nationally in ratio. ... After registering a season-best 27 assists against S&T, the Lady Panthers have 15 or more assists in eight straight games and 11 of their last 12. ... Drury also has held 11 consecutive opponents to 40 percent or lower shooting from the field. .. After outrebounding their opponent in just five of their first 23 games, the Lady Panthers have done so in their last three. ... The Lady Panthers moved into the USA TODAY/WBCA poll Top 10 this week for the first time since sitting at No. 7 before losses at Lewis and Parkside in early January. Drury has been ranked as high as No. 4 this season. ... The Lady Panthers are 14-7 all-time in GLVC tourney games, with titles claimed in 2008, '10 and '15. ... Armstrong was named a unanimous All-GLVC First Team selection on Wednesday, while Heinzler joined her on the First Team and Dressler was a Third Team choice. It's the second straight year for Armstrong to be named to the all-conference first unit. ...

*ARMSTRONG CLIMBING CHARTS: Armstrong now has 1,086 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 DU all-time scoring charts.. Armstrong needs 29 points to pass Allison Regier (1,114 from 2003-06) for 11th place, and 96 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 1,327 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 83 of 89 this season. Armstrong has made 148 3-pointers in her DU career, and needs three to surpass Kara Rutledge (150 from 2002-06) for eighth place on the all-time DU charts.

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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

#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

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