JOPLIN, Mo.— Drury fought off a Missouri Southern State rally to win in overtime, 88-84, at the Leggett & Platt Center in Joplin on Wednesday night.
The Lady Panthers lifted their record to 2-1 and snapped the Lions four-game winning streak, sending their record to 4-4.
Drury led by as much as 16 late in the third quarter, but Missouri Southern battled back and outscored the Lady Panthers 28-12 in the fourth period to pull even.
Ryan Franklin's basket in the lane with 24 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 77-77, and
Caitlynn Daniels' contested shot in the lane was off the mark in the final seconds and pushed the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Missouri Southern seized the lead, 80-77, early in overtime, but Drury guard
Rhi Gibbons converted a runner in the lane, drew a foul and completed a three-point play to tie the score at 80-80 with 2:42 left. Gibbons, who finished with a team-high 21 points, got a basket, foul and free throw again on her team's next possession to give the Lady Panthers a three-point advantage.
Missouri Southern's Morgan Meyers countered and hit a three-pointer that tied the game at 83-83, but Drury took the lead for good a possession later as
Josie Storey sank two free throws to put the Lady Panthers in front, 85-83, with 1:49 left.
Anna Hitt got a steal for Drury with 33 seconds remaining, and the Lady Panthers, leading by three in the closing seconds, got a blocked shot by
Jazz Gray on a Meyers three-point attempt that preserved the lead.
"I felt we got a little too relaxed when we went up by double-digits (in the third quarter)," said Drury head coach
Kaci Bailey. "They scored on three straight possessions in the fourth and they hadn't done that all night. We had a couple of careless turnovers, and we had way too many of them tonight…then they hit a couple of three's and flipped the fourth quarter around. But we had a couple of huge stops in the last minute with Anna's steal and Jazz's block."
Drury shot 54 percent from the field in the game, going 34 for 63, and they sank 10 of 15 three-point attempts. Missouri Southern shot just 35 percent as they were 28 for 80 from the field and 10 for 25 from long-distance. The Lions went 18 for 23 at the free throw line, while the Lady Panthers were 10 for 18. Drury owned a 46-32 rebounding advantage but committed 28 turnovers to Missouri Southern's 14.
In addition to Gibbons' 21 points, Drury got 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists from
Caitlynn Daniels and
Josie Storey came off the bench to get a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
Missouri Southern was led by Mackenzie Hart, who had a game-high 27 points.
Drury's win avenges an 80-57 loss to Missouri Southern last year in the O'Reilly Family Event Center on New Year's Eve.
The Lady Panthers are idle until Nov. 26 when they host Arkansas-Fort Smith on the first day of the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic.
#WonDrury
