SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Lady Panthers tip off their first Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) weekend on Thursday evening at Truman State.
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Drury and Truman both enter play on Thursday with one win in league play, but coming in different fashions. The Lady Panthers had to grind out a one-point victory at Southwest Baptist with three players playing over 30 minutes on Monday. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, grabbed a 23-point win at Rockhurst on Monday, without a single player playing more than 30 minutes.
Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. New for the 2025-26 academic year, viewing access to GLVC regular season and postseason broadcasts will be available via monthly subscription ($30) or annual subscription ($140). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15. All Drury Lady Panthers games will also have free live audio coverage on DU All-Access.
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury and Truman State are meeting for the 25th time in the two programs' history.
- The Lady Panthers hold a 23-1 all-time record against the Bulldogs.
- The lone loss came during the 2021-22 season at Truman, 67-66.
- Drury is currently on a five-game winning streak against Truman.
- Under Kaci Bailey, the Lady Panthers are winning by an average of 21 points against the Bulldogs.
STORYLINES
- The Lady Panthers are .500 for the first time this season and are looking to have a winning record for the first time this season.
- Drury has won two of their last three games.
- Against Southwest Baptist, Kaci Bailey won her 50th game as the Drury head coach. She is now 50-17 as the Lady Panthers leader.
- Thursday's game at Truman will be the Lady Panthers' seventh of eight games in a 21-day span.
- The Truman game is also Drury's second of five straight road games in the month of December.
- The Lady Panthers are 1-0 in GLVC play for the 18th time in program history and 13th straight season.
- On Monday, Sara Mendel recorded her third double-double of the season. Mendel is the first Lady Panther to have three double-doubles in the first six games of the season since Hailey Diestelkamp during the 2018-19 season. Diestelkamp ended the season with 14 double-doubles.
- Mendel and Rhi Gibbons have both scored double-digit points in the first six games of the season. The two are the first duo of teammates in program history to have double-digit points to start the season in six straight games.
- Mendel and Gibbons are the first Lady Panthers to score double figures in the first six games of a season since Paige Robinson in 2020-21, who went on to score in double figures every game that season.
- Sara Mendel is top-five in the GLVC in scoring (4th), rebounding (2nd), field goal percentage (2nd), and blocks (3rd).
- Mendel's 63.5% field goal percentage is fifth in the nation. Her three double-doubles is 13th in the country.
- Josie Storey is sixth in the GLVC in three-point percentage at 44.4%.
- Storey's three-point percentage is good for 34th in NCAA Division II.
- Rhi Gibbons is eighth in scoring, 11th in rebounding, and third in minutes played.
- The third-quarter woes continued for the Lady Panthers on Monday against Southwest Baptist. Drury was outscored by three points, running their season total to -31 in the quarter alone.
- Truman State enters play 2-3 in their last five games, 2-1 in the last three.
- Mallory Ott and Morgan Miller are the only two Bulldogs that rank in the top ten of a statistical category in the GLVC. Ott is sixth in rebounding averaging 7.3 per game and Miller is ninth in assists with 3 per game.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Lady Panthers finish their road trip at Quincy on Saturday for a 1 pm tip off.
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