KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Lady Panthers win their ninth straight Saturday afternoon at Rockhurst, 85-53, behind Sara Mendel's record-tying double-double.
 
Following a slow start against William Jewell on Thursday, Drury was determined to come out fast against the struggling Hawks. The Lady Panthers did just that by scoring the game's first five points and taking a seven-point lead, 18-11, to the second quarter.
 
Rockhurst brought the game to a two-point difference just three minutes into the second quarter on a Lauren Sandstrom layup. Following the Sandstrom layup, Sage Stratton splashed a three to kickstart a 12-3 Drury run over the next four minutes.
 
The final two and a half minutes of the first half, both teams traded baskets with the Lady Panthers taking a 40-28 lead to the break.
 
Drury opened the third quarter with the first four points of the half to extend their lead to 16 just 26 seconds into the half. Rockhurst answered with a 9-0 run over two minutes and 15 seconds, forcing Kaci Bailey to call a timeout.
 
The timeout was the turning point in the game for the Lady Panthers. Drury scored 18 points over the final six minutes of the third quarter, holding Rockhurst to four. Drury had six players score during the run. At the 2:12 mark in the quarter, Sara Mendel would secure her tenth rebound of the afternoon and secure her 18th double-double of the season. Drury would take a 21-point advantage into the final quarter, 62-41.
 
Similar to Thursday, the Lady Panthers put their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice. Drury grew their lead to 30 before going back to the freshman five: Charlee Bailey, Brooke Teter, Teague Muncy, Ellie Wells, and Talia Norman. The five outscored Jewell seven to six on Thursday in their three minutes together on the court. Against Rockhurst, the five outscored the Hawks starters six to four in the final three minutes.
 
A pair of late free throws for Rockhurst brought the final score to 85-53 in favor of Drury.
 
GAME NOTES

• The win improved the Lady Panthers to 18-6 this season and 15-2 in the GLVC.
• Drury improved their field goal percentage to 44.9% on the season after shooting 33-for-69 against Rockhurst. The Hawks shot 27.5% in the game on 69 attempts.
• Drury shot 9-for-20 from beyond the three-point line. The Lady Panthers are now shooting 39% this season, still second in NCAA Division II.
• Rockhurst made six threes on 33 attempts.
• The Lady Panthers pulled in a season high 60 rebounds, 17 of them on the offensive glass.
• Drury tied their season high in assists with 21. They have recorded 20+ assists now in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
• The Lady Panthers turned the ball over 17 times, allowing Rockhurst to score 13 points off turnovers.
• The Lady Panthers scored a season high of 45 points in the second half.
• Drury blocked four shots in the win, their most since the Upper Iowa game. Sara Mendel blocked half of the four.
• Mendel also recorded her 18th double-double of the season, tying Reese Schaaf for the most in a single season in Lady Panthers history. Mendel tied the record with 14 points and 12 rebounds in 27 minutes played. Mendel has six straight double-doubles.
• Shooting five-for-seven from the field, Mendel is now shooting 67.4% from the field this season.
• Rhi Gibbons scored 16 points in the win. She has now scored 10+ points in 28 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in Drury history.
• Kaylee King added 13 points. She was three-for-three from the free throw line to move her streak to 31 straight made free throws.
• King pulled in a career high seven rebounds.
• Raegan Halliday scored 14 of Drury's 31 bench points. Halliday was four-for-five from the three-point line, the most makes from distance in her career.
• Jazz Gray led the game with five assists. She also scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.
• Brooke Teter pulled in three rebounds for the second straight game.
• Talia Norman grabbed five offensive rebounds. She is the first Drury freshman to pull in five offensive rebounds in a game since Reese Schaaf had six against UIS in the 2022-23 season.
• Just two days after having to leave the William Jewell game early due to a cut above her eye, Sage Stratton returned with stitches to score three points, grabbed two rebounds, and assisted on one bucket.
• Keeley Steele scored 11 points in the first half for Rockhurst; she ended with 12 points.
• Macie Conway (14) and Ella Campbell (12) each scored double figures for the Hawks.
• Aubrey Treadwell had five steals for Rockhurst, tied for the most by a Lady Panther opponent this season.
• Lauren Sandstrom had eight rebounds.
• The starting lineup of Kaylee King, Rhi Gibbons, Jazz Gray, Sage Stratton, and Sara Mendel stays undefeated, now 10-0 this season.
• Kaci Bailey improves to 16-3 in the month of February as the Lady Panthers head coach.
• Drury is now 14-1 this season when leading at halftime and when entering the fourth quarter.
• The Lady Panthers are now 12-0 when they reach 70 points before their opponents this season.
• When holding opponents under 60 points, Drury is 11-0 this season.
• The victory was Drury's sixth of 30 or more points this season.
• Drury's win streak moves to nine games. It is the second-longest streak under Kaci Bailey (13 during the 2023-24 season).

 
QUOTABLE
"I want to shoutout our fans. Every road game this year has felt like we are in The O'," Kaci Bailey said postgame, "We set the tone early with multiple stops and winning the offensive glass. I am proud of how we stayed the course and handled business."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers return to the O'Reilly Family Event Center on Thursday as they take on rival Southwest Baptist at 5:45 pm on February 19.
 
FOLLOW THE LADY PANTHERS
For all the latest information on Drury athletics, please visit drurypanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on Instagram, X, and Facebook