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  • That was the worst game the Lady Panthers played all season as they tried to give it away to Rockhurst. Fouling the opposition 70 feet from the basket repeatedly for free throws, and giving up multiple layups off the press, it was ugly. The same Rockhurst player was back to her same bush antics on the bench, she likely won't have another chance to repeat her disrespectful actions against Drury this season. Nonetheless, it was win number 20 for the 20th time out of 23 seasons (including one covid season) in the programs existence.
    The player of the game was DaMitz-Holt, who SHOULD be named the league MVP. Those voting should consider the number of games won because of the heroics of a player instead of ONLY the offensive numbers.

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    • Originally posted by crazznewt View Post
      Those voting should consider the number of games won because of the heroics of a player instead of ONLY the offensive numbers.
      Those rules sound good to me. The conference’s leading scorer and one of the NCAA’s top three point shooters this season (all divisions) hit a game-tying 3 to force OT en route to a win on Thursday night, then hit the winning free throws in Saturday’s game with less than two seconds left. Clutch.

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      • Point well taken and I need to rephrase my previous statement. Belanger is a scorer with a strong jumper that is second to none in the country. She is prolific at what the coaches ask her to do which is scoring the basketball. She is a lock for All American honors this season based on her scoring numbers alone and I would not have a problem with her being named league MVP. What I should have said is DaMitz deserves MVP consideration for being the do it all floor leader of a team with one loss to the number one team in the country by one point in overtime.

        Although the Lady Panthers have again been the class of the league all season, there are a few teams that could conceivably end Drury's streak. If Amy's team continues winning, what other coach is in the running to rob her of coach of the year honors again this season?


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        • Originally posted by crazznewt View Post
          Point well taken and I need to rephrase my previous statement. Belanger is a scorer with a strong jumper that is second to none in the country. She is prolific at what the coaches ask her to do which is scoring the basketball. She is a lock for All American honors this season based on her scoring numbers alone and I would not have a problem with her being named league MVP. What I should have said is DaMitz deserves MVP consideration for being the do it all floor leader of a team with one loss to the number one team in the country by one point in overtime.

          Although the Lady Panthers have again been the class of the league all season, there are a few teams that could conceivably end Drury's streak. If Amy's team continues winning, what other coach is in the running to rob her of coach of the year honors again this season?

          Absolutely. Drury is the top of the league again this season, and I’d argue even more so than in years past when teams like Southern Indiana, UMSL, Lewis and Truman were even better than what we’ve seen this year from those same teams (minus USI of course).

          At the moment, I’d have a first team of Belanger (POY), Weltha, DaMitz-Holt, Moore and Findley. I know it will never end up like that with three from one team and two from another, but those honestly feel like the five best players in the league this year. Kerr from S&T is probably the first option off the bench in that scenario.

          I also think Amy more than deserves COY this year, making DU arguably even better/deeper despite losing Robinson.

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          • I totally agree with your first team picks except for POY. If Truman has more wins than Drury from this point to the start of postseason, I would pick Hannah.
            Kerr is tough, I also like watching Maryville's Antoinette Mussorici. SBU's 6'6" Tori Hamilton might be a consistent force in this league if she continues to improve.

            Regrettably, I have lost interest in the men's league race because my team has not been competitive, though I remain thankful to be able to watch basketball in person. Life is good.

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            • 17 degrees outside and time on my hands yet again, I am armed with my coffee, GLVCSN, and my remote with the wore out fast forward button. Here are my thoughts:
              *Missing numerous wide open shots resulted in the Lady Panthers having to work extra hard for this impressive win, as they went HARD to the boards to win number 21. The Miner students showed up and were loud in support of their school.

              *I appreciate the assist numbers Truman's Gracie Stugart has put up. I believe Drury's Caitlynn Daniels will also have big assist numbers in the future as her playing time increases. She is an entertaining player to watch.

              Drury will be good regardless of whether Alana returns next year, but Shaaf and Findley at the forwards would be epic.

              *UMSL women was up by 5 with three minutes left, but lost by five in regulation to SBU. 6'6" Tori Hamilton is playing with more confidence using her athleticism and hitting 10 to 15 foot shots with confidence. If the players around her can hit open shots, SBU could break into the GLVC top 8 by tournament time.

              *The Truman women need one more consistent outside threat as they rely so much on Belanger who has over 100 more shot attempts than Weltha, who is second in attempts on the team. Hannah does a great job in this role as she shoots over 50 percent and leads the league by a wide margin in three point shooting. It looks like Claire Rake could be a key player down the stretch for the Dawgs by taking more of those perimeter shots. Belanger having to do so much cost Truman the game against Indy in the fourth IMO.

              *Maryville was down 12, but came back to beat Rockhurst. Fearday showed tremendous athleticism in this game, but Mussorici had the highlights. Her game is so entertaining. The Saints play at Drury next Thursday. It's hard to believe there are just four home games left.

              *Paige Robinson had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 25 minutes in Illinois State's big win against Bradley. She has been the best player on the floor in every game she has played this season IMO. Her team is well on their way to 20 wins and are 10 and one in the Missouri Valley Conference.

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              • Another dominant defensive performance by the Lady Panthers who led by as many as 32 points over a good Maryville team while playing no one over 23 minutes. Maryville often struggled to get the ball inbounds and across halfcourt, especially if Mussorici wasn't in the game, leading to 25 turnovers for the Saints. A decent crowd (for this post covid era) of over 1200 was on hand.

                Rockhurst upset Indianapolis in Kansas City in overtime despite Indy having a 5 point lead with less than two minutes to play. Indy's constant aggressive confronting of the officials by coaches and players alike cost them two technical fouls in the second half that resulted in points and extra possessions for Rockhurst. Also, the Rockhurst announcer said there was some "gamesmanship" happening, one instance when an Indy player was talking trash to a Rockhust player in front of the home bench. Everyone gets frustrated and messes up from time to time. It's okay to play with toughness, emotion and heart, but when emotions consistently cross the line, it affects all involved negatively.


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                • Big win for the young Drury Men who need to build positive momentum for the off season. It didnt look good for the Panthers in pre-game warm-ups as Drury's best rebounder had a leg in a protective boot and was obviously unavailable for this game. The future looks bright as league freshman of the year candidate Logan Applegate led in scoring again.

                  The attendance for Saturday was over 1500, approaching the pre-pandemic average.

                  A trend for the Lady Panthers has been getting a 30 point lead on the opposition then letting the bench players get their reps. The league only stats reflects this as Drury leads the GLVC in scoring while no Lady Panther is in the league top 30 in minutes played.

                  Some misperceptions can be drawn by looking at the stat page. For instance:
                  * Drury is next to last in defensive rebounds but 3rd in rebounding margin. Of course when you lead the league in steals and turnover margin, there are less defensive rebounds to be had.
                  *DaMitz-Holt is second in the league in assist to turnover ratio which is amazing. Anyone who has watched this lady play understands the tenacity of her game when she is attacking the basket and creating for others. Being that aggressive with the ball often results in added turnovers.
                  *Drury is also first defensively in the GLVC and Individual stats are often sacrificed for the good of the team. The first trap does not always get the steal. Help defense often results in a foul on the helper. Etc. Etc.
                  *I only say this in support of Drury's game approach. It's been said that it means nothing to be a scorer if one does not back it up on defense. If one looks a little deeper, this is also reflected on the league stat page and the winning percentage column.

                  *Alana Findley is playing like an All American IMO. She scores at all three levels and backs it up by leading the league in steals. Her ability to score over the tallest shot blockers, hit the midrange, the three, and get fast break layups is elite.
                  I hope she returns next season.

                  Big game ahead at Indy next Thursday, a rematch of the testy 65 foul game played at Drury back in early January. It could be interesting.
                  ​​​​


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                  • Interesting re-tweet by Indy WBB. "Drury doesn't know what's coming"


                    Last edited by crazznewt; 02-16-2023, 06:32 PM.

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                    • Interesting games on Thursday night, quick thoughts:
                      *Visiting Mckendree was down 5 at halftime to Maryville before winning by 11, further hurting SBU'S post season chances.

                      *Lewis was down 8 at halftime at S&T and came back to win by 10. All the Flyers starters played at least 34 minutes.

                      *Indy was down 10 at half to UMSL in ST Louis and won by 2 in yet another close GLVC game involving the Greyhounds.

                      *SBU's chances of participating in the postseason are next to zero due to the devastating loss to Quincy, a game in which the Bearcats were down by 28 at the end of three.

                      *Truman found out how hard it is to win in the shoebox at Rockhurst in a devastating regional loss to a sub 500 team. Adding injury to insult, Weltha and Belanger both went down with ankle injuries in the last four minutes of that game.

                      *Drury was up 32 at the end of three quarters to Illinois Springfield as no Lady Panther played more than 26 minutes. I thought the officials let some careless contact go in the fourth. Nothing flagrant, just unnecessary.

                      My current picks for the all GLVC first team:

                      * Belanger from Truman, who have lost three of their last six.

                      *Either Hilber or Schmidt from Lewis, who are on an eight game winning streak and are in second place in the conference PRS.

                      *I think Findley, Moore and Holt should share the league MVP award. 26-1 overall, 19-0 in the conference, and a 22 game winning streak.

                      *Probably Findley from those three for defensive player of the year as she leads the GLVC in steals and her team has the best defensive numbers by far.

                      The Flyers stand in the way of a perfect GLVC regular season for the Lady Panthers. This should be a tough game as Lewis needs to win to solidify their chances for a regional bid if they don't win the conference tournament.


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                      • Some quick thoughts on Saturday's games:

                        *A perfect lob pass gave the Panther Men a last second one point overtime win over Lewis. The over 1500 fans were loud and into the game reminiscent of old times.

                        * The Lewis Women will be a formidable opponent in the conference tournament as it looks like they may have to win to secure a spot in the Midwest Regional.

                        *Against Drury, The Lady Flyers played a lot of tough zone and were quick at all five positions in that defense. The Lady Panthers missed a lot of the open shots adding to the struggle. Kaylee Holt busted that zone with 2 late threes to finally seal the game.

                        On the subject of defense, the Lady Panthers forced 24 Flyer turnovers while committing 7 themselves. Making this more impressive is that the Flyers lead the league in Assist to turnover ratio and are 3rd in turnover margin. Drury also had 18 offensive rebounds to the Flyer's 10.

                        In this game:
                        Kaylee Holt; 18 points (including the last seven of the game) 1 turnover and 5 steals.
                        Alana Findley; 16 points, 4 offensive rebounds, no turnovers and 5 steals.
                        Terrion Moore; 12 points 7 rebounds 5 Assists, 1 turnover, 4 steals.

                        As a result of their defense, Drury had 22 more field goal attemps. Based on history, defense wins games and championships, but not league most valuable player awards.

                        *In a game that apparently decided who would receive the last spot in the conference tournament, Rockhurst lost on a last second shot to Quincy. The camera operator was not paying attention and had the camera focused on the wrong end of the court, missing the biggest moment of the game. Side note: The play by play guy said that Allison Mcfarren will return for her covid season.

                        *The UMSL Lady Tritons lost their last five games, dropping out of the top eight on the last day of the season.

                        *After making a brief appearance in the top eight, SBU lost 5 of their last 7.


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                        • The Drury Women almost got sent home early from the GLVC Tournament and erased any chance of hosting the Midwest Regional in the event of an unlikely Ashland loss to Treveca Nazarene. It's been an odd GLVC Tourney so far as the 1 and 2 seeds struggled against the 8 and 7 while the 3 and 4 won big against the 6 and 5 seeds. Based on this, It looks like the last four games might be close contests and Drury may not be the overwhelming favorite. Drury is sitting at 28 wins and 1 loss and is assured of a Midwest Regional berth, while Truman and Indy must win to continue their post season. Lewis appears to need at least another win to continue on.

                          Next season, by the looks of the current roster and the incoming freshman class, the Drury Women will be relying heavily on underclassmen to continue the winning tradition. Most of this incoming class had solid D1 offers and are very talented. This includes a McDonald's All American nominee and another with one of the best turn around jumpers you'll ever see. Hopefully, some of Drury's eligible seniors will return next season.





                          Last edited by crazznewt; 03-04-2023, 07:32 PM.

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                          • The Lady Panthers will play Lewis in the opening round of the Midwest Regional. A fresh Lewis team will be a major challenge to beat for the fourth time this season. The Flyers have proven to be very capable this semester after playing Drury tough in all three games and defeating Grand Valley in Michigan among other big wins.
                            By the sound of their "We are dancing" tweet, the Lewis Women aren't happy about playing Drury again either.

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                            • Wow, the transfer portal is already very active. It's harder to track the women's portal for the average fan, but I noticed Truman State's All American candidate Hannah Belanger has announced her intention to transfer.

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                              • Former Lady Panther Paige Robinson was just named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of The Year. It hurt to lose her to Illinois State where ironically, Drury's Terrion Moore played and received 2 MVC post season awards two season's ago.
                                Paige is on a mission to go pro and her highlight reel shows that is a distinct possibility. The opposition was always focused on stopping her first, but to no avail. She has been fun to watch since her first game for Drury when she scored 24 first half points as a true freshman against Kentucky Wesleyan. Hopefully she can avoid the injury bug that she has had to deal with the last couple of seasons.



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