SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The number one ranked Drury Lady Panthers showed little "holiday hangover" Thursday evening as they returned to the O'Reilly Family Event Center for the first time in more than a month and scored a resounding 91-58 win over Missouri -St. Louis to improve to 13-0 for the season and 4-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.
 
One game after becoming the program's all-time leading scorer, senior Hailey Diestelkamp paced a balanced scoring attack for Drury, finishing with 14 points to share team scoring honors with sophomore Paige Robinson as the Lady Panthers placed four players in double figures with juniors Kelsey Winfrey and Azia Lynch closing with 13 and 11 points respectively.
 
"I thought we started out by taking really good shots, and we've been talking a lot about that," said Drury head coach Molly Miller. "I think our shot selection was really, really good and we've stressed that. When you get good inside then outside looks, it opens a lot of things up."
 
The Lady Panthers jumped on the Tritons early, hitting on ten of sixteen shots in the first period en route to a comfortable 27-7 lead after the opening ten minutes of action. They went on to outscore UMSL 23-14 in the second quarter and carried a 50-21 cushion into the halftime locker room.
 
"It's a different type of learning when you're up that much. You've got to stay consistent, and you've got to stay disciplined," added Miller. "And we were able to get our starters lots of rest, which is big in these Thursday-Saturday swings."
 
The Lady Panthers were on target most of the evening, hitting on 36 of 66 shots for 55 percent while draining 10 of 19 from three-point range. Laura Szorenyl topped the scoring for the Tritons (6-7, 1-3), as she finished with a game-high 22.
 
The Lady Panthers continue GLVC play Saturday, January 11th, when they host Lindenwood in a 1 pm contest at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
 
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