The Drury Lady Panthers won for the fifth time in a row and for the ninth time in their last ten games Thursday night with a thrilling 74-67 win over the Upper Iowa Peacocks at the O'Reilly Family Event Center, but it was a game that was in doubt to the very end.
 
Quarter-by-quarter, the Lady Panthers led by one point, then trailed by two points at the half and again by one after the third period, but a quick five-point scoring burst to open the fourth quarter gave them a lead they never gave back and carried them to the hard- fought win, improving their record to 15-4 overall and 11-1 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
Neither team held a lead of more than four points at any juncture of the game, before late free throws in the final minute of play pushed Drury in front by the final margin.
 
"I think we just found a way tonight and you want to be tested right now," said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey.  "I mean, come tournament time, I don't think there'll be any easy games."
 
A career best scoring performance by sophomore Rhi Gibbons highlighted the Lady Panther effort, as she finished with a game-high 26 points on 10 of 20 shooting from the field.
 
Her work was supported by a 19-point showing from senior Makaiya Brooks and 13 points from senior Anna Hitt.
 
"We were struggling offensively and they took away some of our stuff," added Bailey.  "They had really good defense against us and we knew we had to put the ball in someone's hands and Rhi tonight came and made some really big plays for us."
 
Also key in the win was a dominating night on the boards for Drury.  Behind a 16- rebound night from sophomore Sara Mendel, the Lady Panthers out-boarded the Peacocks 46-32.
 
Upper Iowa, who dropped to 8-10 overall and 5-7 in GLVC play, got a team best 15 points from Anna Soler.
 
The Lady Panthers return to action, Saturday, February 1st, when they host Lewis in a 1:00 pm game at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.