SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Lady Panthers won their 11th straight on Thursday night as they defeated No. 20 Missouri-St. Louis in the O'Reilly Family Event Center, 93-80.
 
In a meeting of the top-two teams in the GLVC, the opening minutes showed why the two are the heavyweights in the league. In the first four minutes, both teams traded buckets, having the game knotted at nine.
 
The Lady Panthers would pull away to give them their largest lead of the quarter with 2:12 remaining, 19-13. UMSL brought it within three to close the period, giving Drury a 23-20 lead.
 
Drury kept the Tritons at arm's length until the second-quarter media timeout, holding a 36-28 lead.
 
Following the media break, UMSL went on an 8-2 run to bring the difference to two points. That 8-2 run grew to a 15-7 run as UMSL tied it with a minute left in the first half on a Mara Rieder pull-up, 43-43.
 
Rhi Gibbons would knock a pair of free throws down to take the lead back to two. With six seconds left, the Tritons would have an opportunity to tie it up, but a missed layup from Rieder allowed Jazz Gray to get the rebound and push it up the court to Kaylee King, as King would hit a floater as time expired to give Drury a 47-43 edge after the first half.
 
Drury slowly grew their lead to 12 points over the course of the first seven minutes of the second half.
 
Keeping the lead at 12 until the two-minute mark, UMSL ended the quarter on an 8-0 run to cut the Drury advantage to four points, 66-62.
 
Two of the top players in the GLVC, Sara Mendel and Mara Rieder, opened the fourth quarter trading baskets, each with four points in the first three minutes of the final quarter. Mendel would score once more in the game and Rieder not again.
 
The story of the fourth quarter was Kaylee King. Entering the fourth with 17 points, King would add ten more in the quarter, eight in the final two minutes, to secure the 93-80 win for the Lady Panthers.
 
GAME NOTES

• The win put the Lady Panthers a half-game out of first place in the GLVC. Drury (17-2) only trails UMSL (18-2). Drury has a chance to claim a co-GLVC regular-season title on Saturday if the Lady Panthers would be able to beat Missouri S&T, as UMSL's regular season ended with the loss.
• The Lady Panthers shot a season-high 62.5 percent from the field on 35-for-56 shooting.
• Drury shot 45.5 percent from three-point range to improve their season percentage to 39.2 percent.
• The tone was set early with both teams looking to find their post players. There were 102 points scored in the paint, 54 from UMSL and 48 by Drury.
• The Lady Panthers had 20 points off of fast break and held the Tritons to four.
• UMSL, the team that turns the ball over the least in the league, had 12 turnovers to Drury's six, the fewest for the Lady Panthers in a game this season.
• Off of the Tritons' 12 turnovers, Drury scored 20 points.
• UMSL won the rebound battle 30 to 24 behind 11 from Morgan Ramthun and eight from Mara Rieder.
• Drury has now scored 93 points in back-to-back games, their season high in points.
• Kaylee King scored a career-high in the win, 27 points. She is the first Lady Panther to score 25 points in a game this season.
• King did so on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• Sara Mendel added 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting and pulled in five rebounds.
• With Mendel's ninth point, she reached 400 points this season, and with her 13th, she eclipsed the 800 career-point mark.
• Rhi Gibbons scored 16 points and led Drury with four assists.
• Jazz Gray tied her career-high in points with 15 points.
• Josie Storey had two offensive rebounds, leading Drury. Storey was the Lady Panthers' leading scorer off the bench with seven.
• UMSL was led by the reigning GLVC Player of the Week, Morgan Ramthun. Ramthun had 27 points and 11 rebounds. Seven of her 11 rebounds came on the offensive end.
• The GLVC's leading scorer, Mara Rieder, was held to 14 points. She started the game 0-for-5 from the field while being guarded by Sara Mendel.
• Jayden Kuper (13) and Anna Costa Riera (11) added double figures before both fouled out in the fourth quarter.
• The win gave Kaci Bailey her first career win against a top-25 team. It was the Lady Panthers' first ranked win since Dec. 16, 2022, when Drury beat No. 8 Eckerd 85-73.
• The Lady Panthers finish their home slate with an 11-2 record, their 14th consecutive season with at least ten wins at home.
• Drury has also picked up their 20th win of the season for the 13th consecutive season and 23rd time in program history.
• The starting lineup of Kaylee King, Rhi Gibbons, Jazz Gray, Sage Stratton, and Sara Mendel has improved to 12-0 this season.
• The Lady Panthers are now 14-0 in games when they reach 70 points first this season.
• With the win, the Lady Panthers are now 16-1 when leading at halftime and entering the fourth quarter this season.
• Pregame, Drury honored three seniors: Audra Pasakarnis, Josie Storey, and Rhi Gibbons.
• Drury is now 38-2 against UMSL all-time and has won seven straight.
• It was the 20th win against UMSL in Springfield in the series history, 20-0.

 
QUOTABLE
"We have been looking forward to this game for a couple of weeks, and the way we came out made me proud," coach Kaci Bailey commented postgame. "All eyes were on Sara and Rhi, and the way Kaylee and Jazz came out made it an all-around game."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Panthers finish their regular season on Feb. 28 in Rolla against Missouri S&T.
 
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