Drury Panthers

[crazznewt]

There are other good teams in the GLVC that are just inconsistent. Drury's wins against 8 seed Trevecca (away), and 5 seed Kentucky Wesleyan (neutral) helped the cause. What a tough draw in Ashland, a rival that is likely the best team in the country again.

[Bballfan]

Concerning that third paragraph, who honestly would have thought Drury would be in the national tournament and Central wouldn't?

I expected Drury to make the tournament. The GLVC just isn't that strong in Women's Basketball, especially this year. You have Lewis, Drury, and everyone else. Now Lewis and Drury can play with anyone, but after that it gets ugly.

Central Missouri missing the tournament is one of the biggest mysteries of the year. They certainly didn't deserve to get in, but given everything they had returning, I expected them to dominate and be a #1 seed. At one point they were #3 in the nation. Wild how everything just collapsed for them.

[crazznewt]

The DU 23-24 online roster doesn’t include incoming freshmen or transfers but lists just six returning players, the best of whom averaged less than eight points per game last year and none of the other five averaged more than 4 ppg.

The Panthers bringing back not a single start from last year combined with a coach who has limited experience is going to be really interesting.

UCM meanwhile brings back four starters from a team that went 25-5 last year and definitely has a good shot at both MIAA and regional title aspirations. Plus, Dave Slifer is a heck of a coach who has stayed there a long time.

So to answer your question . . . yes to both?

The first two paragraphs alone from TSU Mike's post back on 5/1/23 make a strong case that Drury's Kaci Bailey could have been named GLVC Coach of the Year instead of Mckendree coach Kari Kerkhoff who returned her entire roster. For good measure, Drury had a better record, won the head to head, and led the league in several statistical categories.

Caitlynn Daniels and Beth Matas Martin get the unofficial Ironwoman award for rarely coming off the court this season because of injuries to teammates.

Concerning that third paragraph, who honestly would have thought Drury would be in the national tournament and Central wouldn't?

Congratulations to Kaci Bailey and staff for overcoming much adversity and breaking that 25 win mark.

Congratulations to Lewis Women on the championship. Hilber is a great one.

[tuffeagle]

Drury women had been playing well of late. But they are safely in the regional tournament most likely at a 4 seed. A 3 seed might have been attainable, but I don't know now. Lewis very well could sneak in the regional, but McKendree would need to win the GLVC to get in. Definitely a down year overall for the league in women's basketball.

[crazznewt]

Schaaf should be POY. Been fantastic this year as one of the few holdovers from last year’s team.

Also, the official NCAA regional rankings come out this week for the first time. They might be similar but they also use numbers the SIDs/coaches don’t have who vote. Anything else is all for fluff and no substance, like the coaches’ polls.

Oops. Upon closer look, that information was from the D2CSC Women's Basketball Division II Media Polls.

[TSU_Mike59]

Schaaf should be POY. Been fantastic this year as one of the few holdovers from last year’s team.

Also, the official NCAA regional rankings come out this week for the first time. They might be similar but they also use numbers the SIDs/coaches don’t have who vote. Anything else is all for fluff and no substance, like the coaches’ polls.

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers beat Mckendree 87 to 75 for their 12th win in a row. This game featured 22 lead changes and 12 ties. This was a big game in the Midwest Region as Drury was ranked 5th and Mckendree was tied for 10th in the latest poll. BTW, there are some surprises in these regional polls, including the absence of Central Missouri's Lady Jennies from the top 10 in the Central Region.

Quickies:

*Mckendree, a very talented and well coached team, was 12-0 on the road, including a win at Lewis. This was the second big opponent streak ending with a loss to Drury (Rockhurst 10-0 home record)

*This makes win number 20 for a team that leads the conference in scoring, field goal percentage, three point percentage, scoring margin, defensive rebounds and assists.

*Considering the injuries, new surroundings, lack of experienced collegiate starters, and only three returners with significant playing time, this coaching staff has done an incredible job!

Reese Schaaf in unwatered down conference only stats;

*Number 1 in scoring
*Number 1 in field goal percentage
*Virtually tied for rebounding lead
She can post and finish impressively with either hand, makes the midrange and the three, making that field goal percentage even more impressive.

[crazznewt]

Man, he has not had an easy time. He apparently keeps having these setbacks. Just being continually healthy alone would be a blessing for this guy. From what I can tell, he had been present with the team the whole season.

[TSU_Mike59]

I heard the play by play announcer say that coach foster was out the other night. Has he been able to coach more this season? I know he has had some health issues most of his tenure there. He did great continuing what Matt Woodley started at TSU, so I’ve rooted for him at both stops since leaving.

[crazznewt]

Attendance is down obviously. I do know they ALWAYS scan every ticket at the entrance. Unfortunately, as been the norm for the last few years, the draw has been the women's game. The announcer used to ask the crowd to stay and support the men's team. It's hard to watch a team continually get beat on their home floor.
But to say this ALWAYS has been the case is ridiculous.

[TSU_Mike59]

For whatever reason, the other side of the arena is where most people sit. The concessions are closer and the student section is not seen. The area behind the visitor bench is normally where the visiting fans sit. In a normal season, more people sit behind Drury's home bench than what Truman has in their whole arena. Again, maybe 3/5 of the arena is not shown on GLVCSN.

lol. Truman actually underreports for who knows what reason. You can turn on a game and see there are more actual butts in the seats than what they report in the box score. Why? I don’t know.

But for the last 6 minutes of that game Thursday night + OT, there were maybe 50 fans on the 2/5th of the court you say you can see on the screen. My wife - who doesn’t even watch basketball - walked through and said “wow, there’s no one there.”

If there were 1,000 on the other side midway through the second half, then awesome, but the videos DU puts out + other pictures on Twitter + the GLVCSN always paint a different picture.

[crazznewt]

Watched the overtime of that game and I even let out an audible ‘oh wow’ on the Riak stick back dunk. UMSL looked out of rhythm on offense from what I saw. Nice win for the Panthers.

Also, when I looked at the box score to see how many Riak had, the attendance was listed at 1082? In the era of the GLVCSN, the times of inflating attendance should come to an end. IYKYK, say the young kids.

Otherwise, if they’re counting tickets given away/sold, then I’ll call Truman and tell them they should start counting me (who lives in St Louis) for every game because I get two tickets to every FB and BB game as part of my alumni contributions LOL.

For whatever reason, the other side of the arena is where most people sit. The concessions are closer and the student section is not seen. The area behind the visitor bench is normally where the visiting fans sit. In a normal season, more people sit behind Drury's home bench than what Truman has in their whole arena. Again, maybe 3/5 of the arena is not shown on GLVCSN.

[TSU_Mike59]

Juok Riak showed his pro potential in Drury's win against UMSL. Big three point shots, tough drives to the hoop, and a couple more very athletic dunks. One dunk was straight up while being bodied by two defenders, one defender was 6'10". The other was a two hand follow - rebound dunk which came at a huge point of the game. Juok left from the circle on that one.

The Lady Panthers won their nineteenth game with plenty of big performances: Schaaf and Daniels with double doubles- Daniels with 13 assists, Brooks with another huge shooting game-including 3 point makes while being bodied. Moxness is looking more mobile, she could be key going forward. Huge game Saturday.

Watched the overtime of that game and I even let out an audible ‘oh wow’ on the Riak stick back dunk. UMSL looked out of rhythm on offense from what I saw. Nice win for the Panthers.

Also, when I looked at the box score to see how many Riak had, the attendance was listed at 1082? In the era of the GLVCSN, the times of inflating attendance should come to an end. IYKYK, say the young kids.

Otherwise, if they’re counting tickets given away/sold, then I’ll call Truman and tell them they should start counting me (who lives in St Louis) for every game because I get two tickets to every FB and BB game as part of my alumni contributions LOL.

[crazznewt]

Juok Riak showed his pro potential in Drury's win against UMSL. Big three point shots, tough drives to the hoop, and a couple more very athletic dunks. One dunk was straight up while being bodied by two defenders, one defender was 6'10". The other was a two hand follow - rebound dunk which came at a huge point of the game. Juok left from the circle on that one.

The Lady Panthers won their nineteenth game with plenty of big performances: Schaaf and Daniels with double doubles- Daniels with 13 assists, Brooks with another huge shooting game-including 3 point makes while being bodied. Moxness is looking more mobile, she could be key going forward. Huge game Saturday.

[crazznewt]

I was looking forward to watching Ryan Gordon play. He is a very strong and fast athlete, a real difference maker.
The Hardrick kid is another high level freshman who had to sit. A very good athlete with a good shot, can play and compete.