SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The Drury Lady Panthers discovered a new formula for winning on Wednesday night…balanced scoring.
 
With the McKendree Bearcats intent on shutting down Drury's leading scorer Paige Robinson, the Lady Panthers placed six players in double figures en route to a 96-62 win at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, pushing their current winning streak to 40 consecutive victories, dating back to the end of the 2018-19 season.
 
Robinson, averaging just under 23 points per game this season, was met with a double-team defense most of the night by the Bearcats and finished with just ten points.  But her teammates more than made up for it on the offensive end.
 
Senior Emily Parker equaled her career high in scoring with 19 points, while fellow senior Kelsey Winfrey posted a career best with 18 points on the night as Drury improved to 8-0 overall and in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
"I knew at some point Paige was gonna see some complete denials, some double teams, and they were gonna throw something at her," said Amy Eagan, Drury head coach. "But that's one of the great things about our team; we just have a lot of kids that can step up, and tonight I thought you saw that."
 
Drury opened the game with one of their signature first-quarter runs, outscoring the Bearcats 28-11 during the opening ten minutes of play, then pulled further ahead in the half as McKendree was whistled for seventeen fouls and committed a similar number of turnovers before intermission, allowing the Lady Panthers to double-up the visitors 50-25.
 
"I told our kids in the third quarter that it looked a little hectic because of the fouling," added Eagan.  "So we told them to calm down and not to let the offensive end of things affect their play on the defensive end."
 
Freshman Haley Meely finished the night with a career-best 15 points, with seniors Azia Lynch and Katie Kirkhart each dropping in 12 points.
 
McKendree (3-5, 3-5 GLVC) was led by Sydney Diekhoff, who had a game-high 26 points.
 
Drury outrebounded the Bearcats 41-31 and forced a total of 25 turnovers for the game.
 
In addition to their 40th consecutive win, the Lady Panthers have now won 74 straight regular season games, 57 straight regular season GLVC contests, and 58 in a row at home.
 
The Lady Panthers continue Great Lakes Valley Conference action on Saturday, Jan. 9, when they host Truman State in a 1 pm contest at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
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