The Drury Lady Panthers started strong, then turned back a challenge from Central Oklahoma to claim an 82-71 win at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Hiland Dairy Kids Day, Wednesday afternoon, for their first win of the 2024-25 season.
 
Playing in front of a loud and supportive crowd of more than 2,500, the Lady Panthers overcame a furious rally from the Bronchos during the midpoint of the game, using solid late-game defense to secure the win and even their record at 1-1 overall.
 
A quick 12-0 scoring run to open the game  put the Lady Panthers in control and they led by as many as 19 points midway through the second period, before a 10-0 scoring charge by Central Oklahoma to close the half pulled them to within 42-33 at intermission.
 
The Bronchos battled back to trail by just two points early in the second half, but Drury kept them at arm's length and had enough to finish and post the win.
 
"It's good to be in a situation where you're up and then when they make a run, to be able to come stop the bleeding and finish on the right side of things," said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey.
 
The Lady Panthers got a one-two scoring punch from sophomore Rhi Gibbons and graduate student Caitlynn Daniels to fuel the win.  Gibbons finished with a career high 21 points, while Daniels closed with 19 points, fifteen in the second half. 
 
Sophomore Sara Mendel also hit for double figures for the Lady Panthers, dropping in 11 points.
 
"Caitlynn struggled early on, but she didn't get frustrated and stayed with it and Rhi was the go-to player early, then she got a couple of big stops for us down the stretch and that was big," added Bailey.
 
Central Oklahoma, now 0-3 on the season, was led in scoring by Gracee Miller, who finished with a team-best 18 points.
 
The Lady Panthers return to action on Wednesday, November 20th, when they travel to face Missouri Southern in a 6 pm contest in Joplin, Missouri.