ST. LOUIS, Mo.— The Lady Panthers season and the
Amy Eagan era at Drury University began with an 84-67 win at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Friday.
The victory gives Drury a 1-0 start to the year and in the Great Lakes Valley Conference while UMSL fell to 0-1 overall and in the league.
Paige Robinson led the Lady Panthers with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists as five Drury players scored in double-figures.
Payton Richards added 13 points, while
Azia Lynch and
Katie Kirkhart both had 12 points.
Kelsey Winfrey chipped in with 10 points.
The Lady Panthers trailed through most of the first quarter but ended the period on a 7-0 run to take an 18-14 lead. They pulled away through the next three quarters and held the Tritons to 29 percent shooting as UMSL went 18 for 61 from the field.
"For a while, it looked like we may have eaten too much Thanksgiving turkey the way we played early," said Eagan. "I'm not sure either coaching staff expected things to be this sloppy, but I was really pleased with the way we adjusted. Our shot selection got a lot better as the game went along, and we were able to get good looks when we needed them."
Drury shot 47 percent from the from going 30 for 63 and hit 6 of their 13 three-point attempts. Richards, a senior from West Plains, Missouri, connected on 4 of her 7 tries from long-range while Robinson went 2 for 3 behind the arc and 6 for 13 from the field.
Friday's game was the Drury head coaching debut of
Amy Eagan. Eagan took over as head coach on April 30 and is in her 12th year overall as a collegiate head coach after stops at Truman State, St. Ambrose, and Ashford. She is the fifth head coach in the program's 20-year history.
Tritons guard McKenzie Lathrom led all scorers with 25 points.
Drury's win on Friday is their 33rd straight victory dating back to last season. It is also their 50th straight win during the GLVC regular season and they extended the road winning streak to 23 games, the longest such streak in NCAA-II women's basketball.
The Lady Panthers play again on Sunday at Lindenwood. Tipoff is 1 pm in St. Charles, Missouri.
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