SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury dropped the second game of the opening weekend in a 68-62 loss to Pittsburg State at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Saturday evening.
After two early buckets from the Gorillas,
Jazz Gray opened the scoring at the 8:34 mark for Drury before both teams went scoreless for the next four minutes.
Following the long drought, Drury and Pittsburg State traded scores over the final four minutes of the opening quarter, sending the game into the second quarter tied at 11.
The Gorillas opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, forcing a timeout from the Drury bench as Pittsburg State pushed its advantage to 19-11.
After the timeout, the Lady Panthers clawed their way back into the game, but the Gorillas were able to keep Drury at arm's length despite the Lady Panthers' 6-2 run to end the first half.
Trailing 26-22 at the break, Drury tied the game at 29 just two minutes into the second half behind scores from
Rhi Gibbons,
Kaylee King, and
Sara Mendel.
Shortly after tying the game, the Lady Panthers took their first lead of the game on a Gibbons free throw at the 5:57 mark in the third quarter. Drury grew the lead to as much as three points before taking a one-point advantage into the final quarter, 45-44, on a
Raegan Halliday last-second jumper.
The Lady Panthers carried their momentum into the fourth quarter. Drury controlled the opening two minutes with a 9-3 run, all nine points coming from
Jazz Gray, growing its lead to 54-47.
The Drury lead was slowly cut by the Gorillas, with Pittsburg State tying the game at 56 with four and a half minutes remaining. The Lady Panthers battled to keep the game tied or hold the lead until Pittsburg State regained the advantage with 1:30 left to play.
Rhi Gibbons tied the game with just over a minute remaining before Drury was forced to foul late to regain possession. The Gorillas knocked down their free throws, going 4-for-5 in the closing moments to secure the 68-62 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Pittsburg State shot 44.4% (28-63) from the field compared to Drury's 38.5% (25-65).
- There were a combined five made three-pointers in the game, three by Pittsburg State (3-15).
- Drury shot 2-for-19 (10.5%) from beyond the arc. It is the lowest three-point percentage since Drury shot 11.8% against Missouri S&T in February of last season.
- Drury outrebounded Pittsburg State 41-39.
- The Lady Panthers pulled in 12 offensive rebounds.
- Pittsburg State blocked six shots, with two each from Kaycee McCumber and Karolina Kiraga.
- Pittsburg State outscored Drury in three of the five specialty stat categories: points off turnovers (15-9), points in the paint (42-34), and second-chance points (10-6).
- Drury outscored Pittsburg State in fast-break points (10-6) and bench points (11-8).
- Drury scored 23 points in the third quarter, its highest-scoring quarter of the game.
- Pittsburg State scored 24 points in the fourth quarter.
- Jazz Gray reset her career high with 19 points.
- Rhi Gibbons scored 13 points and added five rebounds.
- Samantha Becker scored all 11 of Drury's bench points.
- Becker also pulled in a team-high eight rebounds.
- Sara Mendel recorded two steals and two blocks.
- Josie Salazar and Candela Roy each made their Drury debut.
- Clara Swearingen scored a game-high 23 points on 10 made field goals.
- Karolina Kiraga (14) and Ja'Miya Brown (12) also scored in double figures.
- Brown recorded four steals.
- Kiraga pulled in nine rebounds.
- Drury has dropped to 0-2 for the second consecutive season.
- The Lady Panthers still hold an all-time series advantage, 4-3.
- Drury is now 3-5 in the second game of back-to-back contests under Kaci Bailey.
QUOTABLE
"We battled the entire game, even though we struggled to make a shot,"
Kaci Bailey commented postgame. "We told our girls at halftime that they just had to have confidence shooting. We had great looks but were unable to convert in the opening half."
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers continue at home with their annual Hiland Dairy Kids Day Game on Nov. 18 with an 11 a.m. tipoff against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
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