SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Lady Panthers picked up their fourth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) win with an 80-46 win against Rockhurst in The O'Reilly Family Event Center on January 2.
 
The eight-day break between the Lady Panthers' last game and the Rockhurst game did not slow Drury down. Drury raced out to an early 7-0 lead and grew their lead to 13-2 by the first quarter media timeout.
 
The Lady Panthers continued their ability to score at will in the first quarter with a 23-point opening 10 minutes to the Hawks' nine-point first quarter, led by seven points from Rhi Gibbons.
 
Rockhurst entered the second quarter with some fight, going bucket for bucket with the Lady Panthers in the first four and a half minutes. Despite the back and forth, Drury grew their lead to 30-15.
 
The Lady Panthers' offense was too powerful for the Hawks in the remainder of the first half, with Drury entering the break with a 44-20 advantage.
 
Both teams had a slow start out of intermission, with the first score not coming until the 7:33 mark by Alivia McCulla of Rockhurst. Following the score from McCulla, the Lady Panthers rattled off a 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter. During that run, Sara Mendel recorded her seventh double-double of the season.
 
Drury ended the third quarter with a 63-28 lead.
 
The final quarter belonged to all Lady Panthers newcomers, with Brooklyn Owens and Brooke Teter playing the entire ten minutes along with Sage Stratton, Talia Norman, Flora Lukow, Raegan Halliday, Ellie Wells, and Charlee Bailey.
 
In the fourth, Rockhurst, with the floor full of starters, started on a 10-5 run in the first five minutes, but the Drury newcomers settled in and ended the game on a 12-8 run.
 
GAME NOTES

• The game was the Lady Panthers' first of a four-game home stretch and six of the next eight in the O' after not playing at home in the previous 37 days.
• Drury has now won five of their last six games and has started 4-0 in GLVC play, making them one of only two teams undefeated (UMSL, 5-0).
• In the first half, Drury shot 56.3% from the field as a team on 32 shots, scoring 24 points in the paint.
• In the opening half, Sara Mendel matched the Rockhurst total in rebounds with eight.
• Rockhurst did not score its first points from a player who started the game on the bench until the third quarter.
• Rhi Gibbons extended her double-digit scoring streak to 11 games to start the season and 15 games dating back to last season with a 15-point performance in 20 minutes of play.
• Kaylee King added 10 points.
• Josie Storey pulled down six rebounds in the 11 minutes she provided to the Lady Panthers.
• Sara Mendel went for 14 points and 10 rebounds. The double-double was her third straight and seventh of the season.
• Mendel is now ranked tied for 10th in single-season double-doubles and sixth in career double-doubles with 13 in her Drury career.
• Brooke Teter (4), Brooklyn Owens (5), and Flora Lukow (2) all scored their first career Drury points in the win over Rockhurst.
• Teter also pulled down four rebounds in her Lady Panther debut.
• Rockhurst's Macie Conway scored 22, leading the game. She had 15 of them at halftime.
• The Hawks ended up winning the battle in the paint with 40 of their 46 points coming inside, and Drury only had 34.
• The Lady Panthers pulled down 52 rebounds in the win.
• Rockhurst did not make a three in the game, going 0-18. The last time a Drury opponent went the entire game without a make was January 26, 2023, when Southwest Baptist went 0-9.
• Drury led 44-20 at halftime, the largest lead for the Lady Panthers in a game this season and the most points Drury has scored in a first half.
• A 34-point victory is the largest for Drury this season.
• This season, Drury is now 5-0 when being the first to 60 points.
• Under Kaci Bailey, Drury is now 16-2 in January and 9-0 in Springfield.
• Bailey is now 8-1 all-time against Rockhurst, 6-0 at Drury.
• As a program, the Lady Panthers are 49-2 all-time against Rockhurst and have won the last 11 meetings.
• The win marked the Lady Panthers' 195th win while playing in the O'Reilly Family Event Center in only the venue's 16th season.
• The game was Drury's first game this season on a Friday, with the Lady Panthers now playing at least one game on every day of the week.

 
QUOTABLE
"The message for the whole game was to come out and play our standard of basketball," mentioned coach Kaci Bailey postgame, "It was great to get our whole team in after an eight-day break."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers continue their homestand on Sunday for a 1 pm tipoff against William Jewell.
 
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