LIBERTY, Mo.– The Drury Lady Panthers ended the regular season with their 11th straight win in a 98-48 victory at William Jewell on Saturday at the Mabee Center in Liberty, Missouri.
Drury will head to the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament next Thursday with a 26-2 record overall. For the second straight season, the Lady Panthers went 17-1 in the league's regular season.
William Jewell fell to 12-13 and 9-9 in the conference.
The Lady Panthers raced to a 13-2 lead to start the game and pulled away to take a 30-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Drury outscored the Cardinals 23-9 in the second period for a 53-24 halftime lead.
Alice Heinzler, who had 41 points against William Jewell in the earlier meeting on Jan. 27, scored 17 first-quarter points on her way to a 25-point afternoon. The senior from Republic went 8 for 10 from the field and was 7 of 8 from three-point range while grabbing four steals.
During Saturday's game, Heinzler also became the 16
th player in program history score 1,000 career points. She reached the milestone in three seasons having transferred from College of the Ozarks following her freshman year. Heinzler had 572 points at C of O giving her a total of 1,576 as a collegiate player.
Hailey Diestelkamp added 20 points, five rebounds and four steals for the Lady Panthers.
"We came out with lots of energy, and I was pleased with our defense right from the start," said Drury head coach
Molly Miller. "It's not easy to play in this place, but I thought we got good performances from one through eleven on our roster and we had the opportunity for everyone on our bench to get some good reps today."
Drury shot 52 percent for the game hitting 33 of their 64 shots and went 11 for 19 behind the three-point arc. The Lady Panthers forced 35 turnovers against the Cardinals and had 20 steals.
Kayla Harrell was the only William Jewell player to score in double-figures as she led the Cardinals with 10 points.
With their win and Lewis' win over Southern Indiana on Saturday, Drury clinched the top seed in next week's GLVC tournament.
"This was a special conference season, and I think our body of work in the league speaks for itself," said Miller. "Winning the conference regular season is always a goal when you start the year, and I'm proud of what this group has done since October to be where they are."
Drury will play eighth seeded McKendree in the quarterfinals of the GLVC tournament on Thursday. Game time is 6 p.m. at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.
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