SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury Lady Panthers will play their first open exhibition of the 2026-27 season on Tuesday evening in the O'Reilly Family Event Center against Ottawa.
The Lady Panthers will showcase their 2026-27 squad for the first time this season that returns 10 players from last year's 21-win team. They will square off with Ottawa in their lone public preseason exhibition. The Braves enter the game three games into their season, posting a 2-1 record through the first week of the NAIA season.
Fans may follow the action through the GLVC Sports Network (subscription required), where games will be streamed live throughout the regular season. For the 2026-27 academic year, viewing access to GLVC regular season and postseason broadcasts will be available via monthly subscription ($32) or annual subscription ($145). Single-event access can also be purchased for $15. Drury students can receive 10 percent off any pass using their university email and code GLVC@EDU27. All Drury Lady Panthers games will also have free live audio coverage on DU All-Access.
SERIES HISTORY
- Drury and Ottawa have never met prior to this meeting.
STORYLINES
- Tuesday's game will be an exhibition for both teams, not counting toward either team's record.
- Tuesday's game comes after the Lady Panthers took a preseason training trip to Puerto Rico in October.
- The Lady Panthers return 10 players from last year's squad, including their entire starting five.
- There are seven newcomers on the 2026-27 iteration of the Drury Lady Panthers, six freshmen and one transfer.
- Kaci Bailey enters her fourth season at the helm of the Lady Panthers, posting a 68-22 record across her first three seasons.
- Sara Mendel, Rhi Gibbons, and Kaylee King all return to Springfield after all-GLVC campaigns last season.
- There were three programs in the GLVC last season that earned three all-conference selections: Drury, Lewis, and Missouri-St. Louis. The Lady Panthers are the only team to return all three selections in Mendel, Gibbons, and King.
- Drury enters the season as the winningest NCAA Division II women's basketball program since the program's inception prior to the 2000-01 season, with a 676-140 record.
- The Lady Panthers were picked to finish third in the GLVC Coaches' Preseason Poll behind Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis.
- The Lady Panthers bring back 81 percent of their minutes played and 85 percent of their scoring from a squad that averaged 73.0 points per game last season.
- Leading the returning group is senior forward Sara Mendel, who averaged a team-high 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds while leading the nation in shooting percentage at 67.1 percent.
- Mendel was one of four Lady Panthers to average at least seven points per game, joined by Rhi Gibbons (14.5), Kaylee King (10.9), and Jazz Gray (7.7). The quartet combined to score 1,426 points last season, accounting for more than 67 percent of the team's offense.
- In June, Kaci Bailey inked a contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
- Ottawa is averaging 76.7 ppg (3rd in the KCAC) and has four players averaging 10.0 ppg, led by McKinley Kruger with 20.7, which ranks fourth in the KCAC this season.
- Kruger leads the Braves in assists (2.7), rebounds (7.0), and steals (1.3). She is 23-for-25 from the free-throw line this season.
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers open the regular season against Fort Hays State on Nov. 13 at 5:45 p.m. to start the GLVC/MIAA Crossover.
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