The Drury Lady Panthers used a strong defensive showing and a dominating night on the glass to turn back the Lions of Arkansas-Fort Smith 71-55, Tuesday night to kickoff the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
The Lady Panthers were impressive on defense, limiting the Lions to just under 25 percent shooting from the field on the evening and posting a commanding advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Lions 62-35 to gain their third consecutive win of the season and moving to 3-1 overall.
 
"To rebound like that, hopefully, you're gonna always win those games," said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey.  "They're such a good offensive rebounding team that we had to focus on boxing them out, and as a result, we had 22 offensive boards, so both things worked out for us."
 
Pacing the effort for Drury were a pair of double-double efforts.  Sophomore Sara Mendel posted a season-best in points and rebounds, as she finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.  
 
"I challenged Sara at halftime because we thought she was getting pushed around a little bit out there, so we challenged her, and she was definitely a different player in the second half," added Bailey.
 
Senior Anna Hitt, after a strong start, closed with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Senior Makaiya Brooks came off the bench to drop in 10 points in the win.
 
The Lions got a 14-point performance from Anna Trusty and saw their five-game winning streak come to an end and now stand at 5-2 for the season.
 
The Lady Panthers will conclude the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic on Wednesday, November 27th, when they face Newman in a 5:30 pm showdown again at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.