SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Drury's defense held Illinois Springfield to three points for the first seven and a half minutes of Thursday's game to give the Lady Panthers an early double-digit lead as Drury picked up a 76-44 win over the Prairie Stars in Springfield, Illinois.
 
The tenth-ranked Lady Panthers raised their record to 17-2 and 8-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Illinois Springfield dropped to 10-7 and 4-5 in the league.
 
Drury built a 13-3 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. They stretched the margin to 24 at halftime going up 43-19 as the Lady Panthers held the Prairie Stars to 30 percent shooting in the first half (7 for 23 from the field), forced 16 UIS turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and owned a 23-12 advantage on the boards at the intermission.
 
"I was really pleased with our defensive effort," said Drury head coach Molly Miller. "I liked our rotation defensively out of our traps, and our pressure was a big factor in the win tonight."
 
Heather Harman led Lady Panthers with 17 points on 7 for 12 shooting, and she was 3 for 5 from three-point range. Hailey Diestelkamp notched her fifth double-double of the season as she scored 11 points, pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds and the sophomore added four steals and three blocked shots. Lucia Fernandez chipped in with 14 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
 
"We did a good job of finding the open player," said Miller. "We moved the ball well, and we did a better job of not being stagnant. Our movement opened up our offense."
 
The 44 points scored by Illinois Springfield, and their 30.6 percent shooting from the field were the best marks of the season by Drury's defense and the 32-point win by the Lady Panthers is their largest margin of victory this season.
 
Drury returns home for Saturday's Overflow the O' game against William Jewell. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
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