Drury Panthers

[TSU_Mike59]

It's a clear top 4 on the women's side with Drury (11-1), Missouri-St. Louis (9-1), Southern Indiana (8-1) and Truman (10-2). Drury with a healthy Robinson is, on paper, the most talented team. Southern Indiana is possibly the deepest team. Missouri-St. Louis has a pair of dominant post players (LaPorta and Stewart). Truman has a great inside-outside combo (Belanger and Weltha).

Breaking those four down against each other so far:
Drury (0-1): Lost 66-67 at TSU on January 17. Travels to UMSL on February 3. Hosts USI on February 10.
UMSL (1-1): Won 57-54 at TSU on December 2. Lost 69-62 at home to TSU on January 20. Hosts DU on February 3. Hosts USI on February 24.
USI (1-0): Won 78-66 at TSU on January 27. Travels to DU on February 10. Travels to UMSL on February 24. -- their one conference loss at home to Lewis on January 22.
TSU (2-2): 1-0 against Drury. 1-1 against UMSL. 0-1 against USI. Has no more games against any of those other three teams.

Truman is in the worst shape regional-wise because of their 3-3 nonconference record, but they have the easiest league schedule left of these four to accumulate wins. UMSL with 7 of 10 final games at home.

[crazznewt]

Weltha is Truman's other All American candidate and she is the one most teams aren't matching up with very well. Theo needs to develop depth on his team as that appears to be a glaring weakness that could hinder a deep run. Truman was very fortunate Drury was without Damitz and Robinson in their one point home court victory against the Lady Panthers.

Drury's depth has prevented them from having more losses. However, their inside depth is depleted with Lynch and Moxness being slowed all season in addition to missing the 5'10" Robinson, who was playing like the player of the year before she went down.

Besides the teams you mentioned, there are other teams who could pull off an upset in the 15 team GLVC tournament. Rockhurst for example is long, athletic, deep and talented. Daly Sullivan was a McDonalds All-American nominee...recruited by numerous Division I schools, including South Carolina, North Carolina State, Kentucky and UCLA. Her sister is a D1 transfer and is the teams leading scorer. There are similar players on other under the radar teams.

The one team that earns the bye for the tournament and wins out, will have a tremendous advantage of having to prepare and play only three games in a week compared to four games played for their opponent. We will be blessed to be able to watch this play out with no interruptions.

[crazznewt]

https://www.ncaa.com/video/basketbal...ens-basketball

[crazznewt]

Another loss as the perimeter shooting woes continue. This, the Triton's defense and a lack of depth led to another loss for the Lady Panthers. This lack of depth led to a 10 point swing the last 2:00 of the first half.

Drury will have to rely on a late season run to continue their run of success. They can't expect Robinson to carry their outside shooting though coming off the injury.

Amy has done an excellent job through the adversity so far. They can't afford many more losses as they will play themselves out of an at large regional berth if needed. It will be fun to watch unfold.

[PantherClaws1]

Sources: Paige Robinson will make her return to the Lady Panthers this week.

[crazznewt]

Sources: Paige Robinson will make her return to the Lady Panthers this week.

Finally! It has been very challenging for The Lady Panthers without Robinson with the once explosive Azia Lynch being slowed. Without the usual solid inside game, the play has been rather erratic.

Robinson has been out for 6 weeks with that injury to her shooting hand. Before she went down, she was leading the conference in scoring again.. in efficient fashion, including .423 from 3. Making that more dangerous for opponents was the fact she led the conference in 3 point attempts by a wide margin when she went down. This was while Drury was playing one of the nation's toughest schedules.

Despite all the nagging injuries and illness to multiple players resulting in missed practices and games, this team is 22 and 3. Amy Eagan and her staff have done an incredible job. Hopefully they can regain the early season form and peak at the right time.

[crazznewt]

The Panthers were sharp in their win over William Jewell last night. Despite being pressured hard with quick switching double teams, the Panthers only turned the ball over 6 times for a total of 14 turnovers in the last two games. Not bad for all the games and practices missed and the coach missing half the season. Hopefully this continues.

Panther Claws, do you know if the students are being told to stay away from the games? The student support has never been this bad - It's nearly non existent! Considering this, covid, and the men missing several games, it's a testament to the strength of the women's program to still average 1500 fans a game.

[alwaysabeaver]

Saw the Drury AD left for the same position at Oklahoma City University (NAIA). That seems like a move down. Any insight?

[DUPanther]

Saw the Drury AD was asked to leave and then was hired for the same position at Oklahoma City University (NAIA). That seems like a move down. Any insight?

Fixed it for you.

[crazznewt]

If I remember correctly, a former Drury SID had a huge hand in developing the best student participation in school history and winning a national award in the process. That guy did a lot of good things for the program. He was very passionate about his job and the school. They need to find someone like him for a replacement AD.

[DUPanther]

If I remember correctly, a former Drury SID had a huge hand in developing the best student participation in school history and winning a national award in the process. That guy did a lot of good things for the program. He was very passionate about his job and the school. They need to find someone like him for a replacement AD.

[PantherClaws1]

The Panthers were sharp in their win over William Jewell last night. Despite being pressured hard with quick switching double teams, the Panthers only turned the ball over 6 times for a total of 14 turnovers in the last two games. Not bad for all the games and practices missed and the coach missing half the season. Hopefully this continues.

Panther Claws, do you know if the students are being told to stay away from the games? The student support has never been this bad - It's nearly non existent! Considering this, covid, and the men missing several games, it's a testament to the strength of the women's program to still average 1500 fans a game.

There should be better student support Thursday, but with COVID and a down year for the men in addition to low staffing, there have been a lot of issues contributing.

[PantherClaws1]

What you are hearing is correct.

[crazznewt]

Drury's Men could not match the hot shooting and physicality of the Eagles in an 18 point loss. USI has some athletic and skilled players, including a couple who talk too much.

The Lady Panthers put up some huge numbers on defense against the Lady Eagles as they forced 31 turnovers, had 19 steals, and 8 blocked shots, eventually leading by 25 in their 19 point win.

Paige Robinson came off the bench to score 23 points in her first action since Dec 18. She played a great all around game but appeared to have lost a little of her conditioning during her long lay off. The confidence and poise she plays with is second to none in this league.

Kaylee DaMitz and Peyton Richards also had great games on both sides of the ball for Drury who won their 23rd game.

[crazznewt]

The Lady Panthers scored 111 points (100 after 3 quarters) against Mckendree as Amy played the end of the bench the whole 4th quarter.

In the two games since Paige Robinson has returned, she has averaged 24.5 points in 21 minutes per game, totaling 17 of 23 from the field and 9 of 13 from 3. She is still scoring In myriad of ways and her shooting form is still perfect despite missing nearly two months with the SHOOTING hand and wrist injury.

Time is flying by, don't blink.