SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Sara Mendel set a new program single-season double-double record on Thursday evening as the Lady Panthers won their tenth straight in a 93-81 win against Southwest Baptist in Springfield.
 
Both teams opened with a two-pointer and a three-pointer to have it knotted at five, three and a half minutes into the game. The Bearcats then took control with a six-point advantage over the next 60 seconds.
 
Trailing by six, the largest Drury deficit of the game, the Lady Panthers clawed their way to tie the game at 15 with 1:45 left in the first quarter. SBU and Drury would trade scores to have the game tied at 21 after the opening quarter.
 
The Lady Panthers started the second quarter with offensive fire, taking a quick seven-point lead on a Talia Norman layup just over three and a half minutes into the second. Following an SBU score, the Lady Panthers would go on an 8-1 lead over the next three minutes. Drury would take a five-point lead to the half, 47-42, after the Bearcats fought back in the final three minutes.
 
Drury grew the lead back to eight before SBU flipped a switch offensively. The Bearcats went on a 10-0 run to take the lead with six and a half minutes left in the third period. They held that lead for two minutes.
 
Over the final five minutes of the third quarter, the Lady Panthers took a ten-point lead on an 18-6 run to end the quarter, 72-62.
 
Despite the deficit, SBU did not quit in the final ten minutes. The Bearcats cut the lead to three points with 3:41 left in the game, but a 7-0 Lady Panther lead grew to ten points with a minute left and put the dagger in the Bearcats.
 
SBU would foul in the final minute to stop the clock, resulting in a 12-point win for the Lady Panthers, 93-81.
 
To open the fourth quarter, Sara Mendel needed one rebound to break the Drury single-season double-double record. It took Mendel until the 4:32 mark in the countdown to record her tenth rebound and her 19th double-double of the season, passing Reese Schaaf's 2023-24 season.
 
GAME NOTES

• The Lady Panthers improve to 19-6 on the season and 15-2 in the GLVC. Despite having only two losses, Drury dropped to third in the GLVC's Point Rating System (PRS) Standings, now behind four-loss Maryville.
• Drury has now won ten straight games. It is tied for the longest winning streak by a GLVC team this season. Lewis won ten straight before Drury knocked them off.
• There were 104 total points in the paint, 54 from SBU. 50 points in the paint for Drury is a season high.
• The Lady Panthers scored a season high 93 points in the win.
• Drury outrebounded SBU 37 to 36 and 12 to 11 on the offensive glass.
• There were 25 assists from Drury on 37 made field goals.
• The Lady Panthers shot 52.1% on 71 attempts from the field.
• Drury improved their season three-point percentage to 39.1% after shooting that same number against the Bearcats. The Lady Panthers remain second in the nation, behind Tampa.
• SBU shot 6.7% from three, 1-for-15.
• Sara Mendel's record-breaking double-double was her seventh 20-point double-double of the season. She ended the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds on 10-for-16 shooting.
• Rhi Gibbons' double-digit scoring streak ended at 28 games with a seven-point performance. Gibbons only played 21 minutes before sustaining a cut above the eye, resulting in her missing the remainder of the game.
• Kaylee King scored a career-high 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting. King also pulled in six rebounds and recorded a game-high six assists.
• King's consecutive free-throw streak ended as she went five-for-six in the game. She opened the game with three makes, including a two technical foul free throws, but missed her fourth to end the streak at 34 straight.
• Sage Stratton had three steals in the game, a game high.
• The starting lineup of Kaylee King, Rhi Gibbons, Jazz Gray, Sage Stratton, and Sara Mendel stays perfect and is now 11-0.
• Eviyon Richardson led Southwest Baptist with 21 points and seven rebounds.
• Kamiyah Hurd pulled in eight rebounds and scored seven points.
• The Lady Panthers are now 15-1 when leading at halftime and entering the fourth quarter.
• Drury is 13-0 when they reach 70 points before their opponents this season.
• Kaci Bailey is 17-3 in February games as the Lady Panthers head coach.
• Drury has now won five straight against SBU and swept the season series for the fourth time in the five instances.

 
QUOTABLE
"It was a great job by all of our girls to step up when Rhi went down," Kaci Bailey mentioned postgame, "Sara breaking the record just shows how much work she has put in and the dedication she has. There have been great players before her, and she sits above all of them."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers do not play again until next Thursday when they host first-place UMSL in the O'Reilly Family Event Center with a 5:45 pm tip-off.
 
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