Drury Panthers

[crazznewt]

100% Agreed on Foster.

Arizona State Women pulls out an overtime victory over hated rival Arizona. This was Molly's 21st win of 2025-26.
This was a tough road game, as this would have been the highlight of the Lady Wildcat's season. The Lady Panther's game this Thursday has similarities. A win by the much improved Lady Bearcats (who will have a week to prepare) would be the highlight of their post season banquet.

[panthersclawz1]

Chris Foster should be fired. A fourth straight season of missing the GLVC tournament is beyond unacceptable. It’s really five, too. His first season was the one coming off of Covid where every team in the glvc got a berth into the tournament. Drury lost by 33 that game because they were only there out of charity. He must be removed.

[crazznewt]

Molly Miller's Arizona State team beat 16 win Utah for ASU's 20th win of the season. She is continuing to prove she will win wherever she goes.

[crazznewt]

Big wins for both Drury teams against Truman today:
3 point shooting was the difference for the Women as they made 11 of 19 from downtown compared to 2 of 18 for Truman.

The importance of a healthy Josie Storey to the Lady Panther's quest for a conference championship is obvious after her performance today. She scored 22 points (17 in the first half), on 8 of 9 shooting, including 6 of 7 from three. She was also vey effective on defense.

Sara Mendel collected her 16th double double: 21 points, 10 rebounds, on 9 of 13 from the field. She needs 2 more to tie Reese Schaaf for double doubles in a season at Drury.

Drury's men never trailed in their game to even the season series with Truman. Hopefully they finish strong with this young team that srarted 2 freshmen and a sophomore today.

Molly Miller's Arizona State team earned respect today at number 15 Baylor, losing 67-64. ASU is now 19-6

The SBU Bearcat Women beat Jewell by 22. Jewell is now 0-20 on the season.


Paige Robinson is still playing at a high level in the top Spanish professional league. She scored 16 points today, averages 13 points on 53.7% from the field, plays an average of 30 minutes a game.

[crazznewt]

Man, I cant believe the Lady Panthers have to play Quincy again today after playing them on Thursday. At least, that's what the headline on the Drury Athletics website says.

Im watching the score of the SBU women vs William Jewell game today. Has SBU really dramatically improved? They only beat Jewell by 2 points back in December in Lberty. Will Jewell lose their 20th straight this season? Their last victory was the last game of last season against Truman State, their 8th win of the season.

Lady Bears vs Western Kentucky today at GSB Arena. Are the fans still mad at the officials in general?

[crazznewt]

On the subject of Schaaf, she was named the WBCA national player of the week award couple of days ago. She put up huge numbers in 2 road victories: 33 points in a 78-68 win at Nebraska Kearney – where she was 10-of-13 from the field with three three-pointers and 10-of-11 at the line and had 15 rebounds. Also 24 points and 12 rebounds in UCM's 81-69 win at number 5 Fort Hays State.
She averaged 28.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game while going 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) from the field, four-of-five from three-point range, and 15-of-17 at the free throw line in the two contests.

She is putting up huge numbers of late after a relatively slow start (for her) to the
season. She is well on her way to being named an All-American again.

[Bballfan]

The NCAA Stat page is a good place to see where players fall....

NCAA College Women's Basketball DII current individual Stats | NCAA.com

Looking at double doubles, I do see Mendel at 4th in the nation with 15. In the region, a player from Ashland has 12 (a freshman no less), and then a player from Malone has 10.

And former Drury player Reese Schaaf has 11.

[crazznewt]

Sara Mendel had her 15th double double last night (21 ponts 10 rebounds). Quincy held her to one rebound in the first half, but she was able to grab her 10th with only seconds left in the game. I hope Kaci brings in a good foward next season to complement Sara. Still hoping Talia Norman is able to contribute more before season's end.

The earlier statement I made about the SBU Lady Bearcats possibly playing a spoiler role almost happened last night against Truman. TSU beat SBU by 35 on December 6th. Last night, Truman's young team was down by 8 points with 5 minutes remaining against SBU, then rallied to take the lead with less than 2 minutes left securing the win.

On the subject of Truman's youth, I really hope they all return next season for Theo. He appears to have taken the same approach as Kaci by not relying solely on transfers to build his team.

It's almost seems like someone else is coaching SBU's women recently.They are still losing, but they have transformed into a totally different team the last five games.There were several games in a row where they lost by 30 points and more to conference opponents, including losing by 22 points to Rockhurst. It might be an interesting game on the 19th at Drury, as this will be the biggest game of the Lady Bearcat's season.

Amazing, I didn't realize William Jewell is winless on the season at 0-19 and 0-13 conference. They are losing by an average of 25 points on the season. Their closest loss was by 2 points to SBU on December 4.

Big win for Molly Miller's Arizona State team on Wednesday against 18 win Oklahoma State. Her team now has 19 wins and 5 losses.

Missouri State fans were really hard on the officials last night at the Great Southern Bank Arena. It is often funny and sometimes sobering watching how people react to a call they disagree with. For example: a guy with a "Good Vibes Only" t-shirt yelling, " Hey ref, you better check your voicemail, you've missed a lot of calls!!! Some people just don't enjoy any part of any game because they are so focused on the whistles.

[crazznewt]

Oops

[crazznewt]

I'm going stir crazy so.....
Interesting piece of information on the Lady Panther homepage about tomorrow's games, under "STORYLINES":
"Drury is 9-0 when they beat their opponents by 70 points". That makes sense! Also, on Teague Muncy's roster profile, her parents are named "Munchy". Makes me want to go to the snack bar.

I asked Grok A I who is going to win tomorrow night. Here is a small part of the very detailed prediction:

"The game between the Drury Lady Panthers and the Quincy Lady Hawks in women's basketball is scheduled for tomorrow night (February 5, 2026) at 5:45 p.m. in Springfield, Missouri, at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. This is a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup, with Drury hosting.
Several factors position the Drury Lady Panthers as the likely winners:
• Home court advantage — Drury is playing at home in Springfield, where they've had a solid record this season (7-2 at home based on recent updates). Home teams in conference play often benefit from crowd support, familiarity with the court, and reduced travel fatigue. This game is also themed as the annual Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks (BCFO) Pink Out, which could energize the home crowd further.
• Stronger recent form and winning streak — Drury enters the game riding a five-game winning streak (W5 overall), including a recent rally to end an opponent's streak. They're looking to extend that to six straight wins. Quincy has won their last three games but faces a tougher test on the road against a hotter team.
• Better overall and conference records — Drury stands at 14-6 overall and 11-2 in GLVC play, showing strong conference dominance (.846 winning percentage in league games). Quincy is 11-8 overall and 8-4 in conference (.667), indicating Drury has been more consistent against GLVC opponents this season.
• Head-to-head context — Drury already beat Quincy earlier this season on December 6, 2025, in Quincy by a score of 74-67. That road win gives them momentum and familiarity with Quincy's style, and now they get the rematch at home.
• Offensive and defensive edge — Drury's team stats show a positive scoring margin (around +6.6 points per game), with solid output (71.0 PPG) compared to holding opponents lower. While specific player matchups or injuries could shift things, Drury's overall performance metrics favor them.
Quincy is capable—they've been competitive and are on a mini streak—but the combination of Drury's home environment, current hot streak, superior conference standing, and prior win over the Hawks makes the Lady Panthers the clear favorite to come out on top tomorrow night."

If Drury loses, I'm suing Elon Musk for emotional damage, but I'll settle for a free Cybertruck.

[crazznewt]

Earlier this week and for the second time this season, Drury's Sara Mendel received the conference player of the week award.
She doesn't overwhelm with her size or athleticism, although she does run the floor well. She is a smart player who quietly puts herself in position to be efficient and effective, as evidenced by being one of two players in the nation averaging a double double while shooting above 60% from the field.

I love what Bailey is doing with this team offensively, despite the lack of size and depth. They probably have the best mid-range shooting team in the conference.
After last week's games, I believe Drury will place three, maybe four on the all league team. There is time left for them to make their case.

They have to stay out of foul trouble from here on out. I dont think there are any gimmes left on the schedule.

[crazznewt]

He is a great guy, he just never came close to having a good season here. Hesser was able to win big as coach of Drury

[TSU_Mike59]

I'm beginning to wonder if his success at Truman was a fluke because of a good returning roster he inherited.

Chris won 20+ games in all four seasons as the HC at Truman, including making the NCAA tournament in years three and four of his tenure. He also recruited two guys who had impacts on that final year, with Brodric Thomas, Jr., and Cade McKnight. One of them spent some post-TSU time in the NBA and the other was a future 2-time 1st team and 2-time 2nd-team all-GLVC performer.

No one at TSU would speak an ill word about CF; in fact, many were really, really disappointed when he left.

[Bballfan]

The NCAA allows what would be called a JV team. Some schools do have them. Tiffin University for instance...

2025-26 JV Men's Basketball Schedule - Tiffin University

Plus with the new redshirt rule. You could always play the frosh in 8 or so games and they would still be a reshirt frosh next year.

[crazznewt]

Hopefully Kaylee, Gray and Mendal return next season. The Lady Panthers will be more athletic and should have multiple good point guards. Their freshmen need to play in a JV league if the NCAA would allow it. It just seems odd more frosh aren't contributing at this point.

Coach Foster has been given plenty of time to turn the program around. I'm beginning to wonder if his success at Truman was a fluke because of a good returning roster he inherited. Lack of roster continuity has contributed to the Panther program's demise, but other programs can use the same excuse. The men's poor performances has likely contributed a little to the lower attendance numbers for the women.