SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Sage Stratton's career night propelled the Lady Panthers to a 70-58 win over Indianapolis in The O' on Friday evening.
 
Just 24-hours after both teams' most recent game, Indianapolis and Drury both teams came out with offense on their minds.
 
The two teams traded punches, with the largest lead being two points for both teams. Sara Mendel scored eight of the 17 Drury points, and Patricia Chikamba contributed 10 of the 17 points for the Greyhounds in the opening quarter.
 
Indianapolis pulled away in the first two minutes of the second quarter, growing its lead to four points. A Josie Storey three sparked a 7-0 run for Drury. The Lady Panthers would grow their lead to as much as five points before entering the half with a 28-26 advantage.
 
The Greyhounds cut into the Lady Panthers lead slowly after the intermission. UIndy got the Drury lead down to one with 4:13 left in the third.
 
Jaelynne Murray received a taunting technical foul less than a minute later, and it turned the game around for the Lady Panthers. Josie Storey would make both technical free throws, followed by a floater to grow the Drury lead to 46-41.
 
Indianapolis would not let the game get out of hand before the fourth quarter. Drury would blow the game open just minutes into the final quarter with a 12-2 run led by six points from Sage Stratton.
 
Drury closed the game with 10 points in the final three minutes to secure the win 70-58.
 
GAME NOTES

• Drury improves to 20-5 against Indianapolis and 8-2 while playing in Springfield.
• The Lady Panthers have now won 14 straight games against the Greyhounds.
• The win moves Drury to 9-2 in GLVC play this season and drops UIndy to 3-8 in league play.
• The Lady Panthers are now 8-0 when they are the first team reach 70 points.
• At home, Drury is 7-2 this season and dropped Indianapolis to 1-11 on the road.
• Sara Mendel recorded her fifth 20-point game of the season. She did so on 10-14 shooting from the field. Mendel pulled in eight rebounds in the win.
• Sage Stratton scored a career high of 15 points. She was 5 for 5 from the three-point line.
• Stratton is the first freshman to make five threes in a game since Paige Robinson on February 8, 2019, at Rockhurst, when she went 5 for 10. Stratton was also the first freshman to go at least 4 for 4 from the three-point line since Emily Parker on January 10, 2018, vs. Lane. The last freshman to go 5 for 5 from the field was Daejah Bernard against Saginaw Valley State in the NCAA 2nd round.
• Stratton started her fifth consecutive game, the first freshman to start at least five games in a season since Hailey Diestelkamp and Daejah Bernard in the 2018-19 season.
• Josie Storey was 2 for 2 from the three-point line in a rout to her first double-digit scoring game since the Texas A&M International game in November.
• Rhi Gibbons extended her double-figure scoring streak to 22 games on the final shot of the game. She scored 11.
• Indianapolis' Patricia Chikamba scored 21 points, 14 of them in the first half. No other Greyhound scored double figures.
• The Lady Panthers shot 45.9% from the field and were outshot by UIndy by two percentage points, 47.8%.
• Drury made nine threes, their most in a game since December 6 at Quincy.
• Drury forced 12 turnovers and only turned it over seven times. Seven turnovers are the lowest in a game for Drury this season.
• The game was a battle in the paint. There were 66 points combined by the two teams, 34 from Drury.
• The Lady Panthers are now just one win away from 200 in The O'Reilly Family Event Center.
• Under Kaci Bailey, Drury is now 5-3 in the second game of a back-to-back.

 
QUOTABLE
"Sage was a difference maker," said coach Bailey postgame, "She was diving for loose balls and making her shots. The energy she has given us in the last couple of games has been huge."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers are off until next Thursday when they travel to Lewis.
 
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