Drury's Lady Panthers set a new school record for 3-pointers made in a game, knocking home 14 treys in 20 attempts in rolling to a 103-74 victory over Missouri Western in the Lady Panthers/Sleep Inn Classic Saturday night at Weiser Gym.
Senior forward Lindsay Ballweg led the assault from behind the line by making 6 of 8 3-point tries while sophomore guard Katie Pritchard hit all five of her trey attempts in matching her career-high with 25 points as the Lady Panthers moved to 3-0 on the season.
"This team is shooting the ball well, but you have a tendency to shoot the ball well when you pass it," Drury coach Steve Harold said of a Lady Panthers team that had 28 assists for the second consecutive game.
Ballweg finished with 20 points, senior forward Melanie Oliver added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and senior Caitlin Shouse had 10 points and seven rebounds as Drury put at least four players in double-figures for the third consecutive game.
Drury rolled to a 17-2 lead from the opening tip and pushed that advantage to 57-33 by halftime, with Pritchard pouring in 19 points and clearly showing she's made the transition from DU women's soccer standout this fall to key basketball component for the Lady Panthers this winter.
The Lady Panthers hit 20 of 32 shots in the opening half (63 percent), including 8 of 12 from 3-point range, and actually heated up a little bit more after the break by hitting 18 of 26 (69 percent) from the field and 6 of 8 on their 3s.
Drury's previous record for 3s in a game was 13, set by the Lady Panthers twice - against Cal State-Monterey Bay in Kona, Hawaii in December, 2003, and at St. Edwards in January of 2001.
With Oliver and Shouse leading the way, the Lady Panthers outrebounded the Griffons 40-23. Drury again got outstanding production from its freshmen trio, as Bri Anton, Amanda Gibbons and Abby Bracker combined for 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
"I like what we're getting from our freshman right now, but I think the big difference is our leadership," Harold said. "Our older kids are leading."
The Missouri State Lady Bears jumped all over Southeast Missouri State with a 31-6 scoring spurt late in the first half and coasted to their second straight victory with a 72-46 decision over the Redhawks Saturday afternoon at JQH Arena. MSU got the job done with its defense, holding the Redhawks scoreless for more than seven minutes during the critical run and limiting the visitors to just .327 shooting for the game.
Melissa Busby's three-pointer at the 10:42 mark broke a 12-12 tie and gave the Lady Bears the lead for good. Casey Garrison and Christiana Shorter combined for 15 points during the key stretch, and Whitney Edie punctuated the run with a trey of her own to push the margin to 21 points.
Garrison finished with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-6 shooting, as well as seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Shorter also came up big for the Lady Bears, posting her second double-digit scoring effort in MSU's three games. The Tulsa, Okla., native totaled 10 points to go along with four assists.
Missouri State's late dominance in the opening half followed a slow start that saw SEMO gain the upper hand early by knocking down three of their first five shots, including a pair of three-pointers by Lauren Sharpe.
However, MSU kicked its defense in gear to limit the visitors to just one field goal over the final 9:54 of the half. That stretch included a span of over seven minutes in which the Lady Bears held the Redhawks scoreless, allowing MSU to turn a three-point lead into a 37-16 advantage. MSU, which forced 24 turnovers on the afternoon, finished the first half with an 18-3 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
In addition to their solid work on defense, the Lady Bears heated up on the offensive end after starting the game just 4-of-16 from the floor. As a team, the Lady Bears would convert nine of their final 14 field goal attempts, while the Redhawks went just 5-of-19 to close the period.
The Lady Bears added to their lead by scoring the first four points of the second half to make it a 45-22 ballgame before the Redhawks knocked down a trio of three-pointers to pull to within 16 with just over 15 minutes to play.
But Missouri State never let SEMO seriously threaten its lead, pushing the margin to as many as 33 late in the game when the Lady Bears reeled off 13 unanswered points over an eight-minute span.
Missouri State, which shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 46.3 percent for the game, dominated the battle for the boards, finishing with a 43-30 advantage in total rebounds.
With the victory, Missouri State (2-1) inched past the .500-mark for the first time since wrapping up the 2005-06 season with a 17-15 record.
Next up, the Lady Bears will hit the road for four games, beginning with next Friday's (Nov. 27) match-up with Arkansas State in Jonesboro. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m., at the ASU Convocation Center.
Kyle Weems scored a career-high 23 points to help the Missouri State Bears improve to 3-0 with a 72-55 win over The Citadel, 72-55, Saturday at JQH Arena on the second night of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge.
Weems hit four three-pointers in the second half and shared team-high rebounding honors with Caleb Patterson with six.
The Bears let a 26-25 halftime lead slip earlier in the second half as Zach Urbanis hit a three-pointer for the Bulldogs to give the visitors a 28-26 lead. Seven-footer Joe Wolfinger then hit another three for The Citadel on its next posession to extend the advantage to 31-28.
That three-point lead would be Citadel's largest as Weems made MSU's next three baskets -- all threes -- to give the Bears a 34-33 edge. Cuonzo Martin's squad went on a 12-4 run over the next five minutes and would never trail again.
Later in the half, Weems' final three of the game with 4:53 on the clock ended an 8-0 run by the Bulldogs and gave the MSU sophomore a career-best 23 points. It also put the Bears up 55-50 at the time and ignited a 17-5 run to end the game.
Patterson also had a career-high for the Bears with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with 3 blocked shots, while Nafis Ricks added 10 points. MSU shot 62.1 percent in the second hafl and 47.3 percent for the game, while turning the ball over just eight times. The Bears also outrebounded Citadel, 32-29.
Citadel (2-2) got 18 points and 7 rebounds from Wolfinger, while Cameron Wells scored 12.
The Bears will shoot for their fourth straight win Sunday at 8:05 p.m. when they take on Eastern Michigan (2-1) in the finals of the three-day event. Citadel will play Maryland Eastern Shore (1-3) at 5:30 p.m.
Earlier Saturday, Eastern Michigan defeated Maryland Eastern Shore, 76-51, in the first game of the evening.
Elsewhere the Evangel men beat Cumberland 69-63; the Evangel women fell to Emporia St. 84-59; the Southwest Baptist men defeated Dallas Baptist 102-84; the Southwest Baptist women lost to Quincy 71-59; Missouri S&T's Miners fell just short against Pittsburg St. 63-62; the Lady Miners beat Wayne St. 68-62; the College of the Ozarks men clipped Silver Lake 74-64; while the C of O women beat University of the Ozarks out of Clarksville, Ark. 64-41.
