SPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- The 17th ranked Drury Lady Panthers were good on 9 of their first 10 shot attempts Wednesday night and then never looked back as they downed the Lincoln Blue Tigers 86-49 to close out the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center and moved their season record to 5-0.
 
Their early dominance was even stronger as the game moved along, with a 16-0 scoring run in the second quarter pushing them to a 38-16 cushion and ultimately to a 51-21 lead at intermission.
 
Graduate student Beth Matas Martin fueled the first half charge, hitting on 6 of 7 shots, including five of six from three-point range, and 19 first half points.
 
"When she gets in the zone and gets that look in her eye, wow," said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey.  "I've seen it before, you keep the ball in her hands, she'll knock shots down and you just let her roll."
 
Martin would finish as the game's leading scorer, finishing with 23 points.  Juniors Anna Hitt and Caitlynn Daniels also reached double figures, with eleven and ten points respectively.
 
The Lady Panthers finished with a strong shooting night, hitting on 33 of 54 attempts for 61 percent, including 12 of 24 from three-point range.
 
"We talked at halftime and said, hey we only had one offensive rebound, but that was because we were making shots," added Bailey. "If you watched us last night against Davenport, we came out flat, but tonight we set the tone early and it was fun for us."
 
Drury was also in control of the glass, outrebounding the Blue Tigers 45-23, with Daniels pulling down eight.  She also topped the team with five assists.
 
Lincoln, which drops to 3-2 overall, was led in scoring by Ashlyn Alloway, who had a team-best 13.
 
The Lady Panthers will be back in action on Monday, November 27th, when they travel to play at Quincy University in a 7 pm game.
 
 
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