SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The number one ranked Drury Lady Panthers called upon their reserves to deliver against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats Tuesday night, kicking off Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a 93-58 win at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
With several starters limited in minutes due to fouls, Drury's bench stepped up and provided both scoring and strong defensive pressure. Junior Azia Lynch paced the bench scoring and was Drury's leading scorer with 17, while junior Kelsey Winfrey and freshman Alana Findley dropped in eight apiece, as 54 of Drury's 93 points came from their reserves.
 
"It's really nice to play this many games in a short stretch and spread the minutes," said Drury head coach Molly Miller. "The energy came players one through fifteen today, and that's what makes a coach happy with all-out effort."
 
Drury (7-0, 1-0) limited the Bearcats to just two three-point shots made on 16 attempts, forced them into 27 turnovers, and finished with 16 steals.
 
"They're a very, very good three-point shooting team, and you can live and die by the three, so we wanted to make it challenging for them to get any clean looks," added Miller.
 
Despite playing just 17 minutes due to foul difficulties, senior Hailey Diestelkamp finished with 14 points. Bailey Rezabek paced Southern Baptist (4-3, 0-1) in scoring with 17 points. The Lady Panthers shot 47 percent from the field for the game, with Southwest Baptist finishing at 37 percent.
 
After leading 17-13 following the opening quarter, the Lady Panthers stretched their lead to 37-24 at intermission as they forced the Bearcats into nine turnovers in the period and 14 in the opening half.
 
The victory was Drury's 46th straight regular season win and extends their consecutive home-court streak to forty-four wins in a row.
 
The Lady Panthers return to action on Friday, December 6th with a special 11 am matinee contest against Arkansas-Ft. Smith at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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