For the 7th consecutive season, the Drury women’s basketball team won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament.
The Lady Panthers overcame a three-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Lewis Flyers 43-21 in the second half to run away with the championship crown, 71-52.
Amy Eagan’s squad used a 14-4 run over the final 4:30 of the third quarter to take a four-point edge into the fourth quarter.
From there, the Lady Panthers took off and never looked back.
Drury forced 25 Flyers turnovers, 17 in the second half alone, helping them score 32 points off Lewis’ blunders.
All five starters for the Lady Panthers scored in double figures. Terrione Moore led all scorers with 17 points and was named Most Valuable Player for the tournament.
The tournament crown was the 10th overall in program history for the women’s team and will send the Lady Panthers to the Midwest Regional, one of eight regional sites, for the first three rounds of the tournament.
Drury is the No. 2 seed in the region. The No. 1 seed is Ashland. The Eagles edged the Lady Panthers 68-67 in overtime, in Springfield. That was the only loss Drury incurred all season.
Drury will open up the first round of the tournament with a rematch against Lewis. It will be the fourth time the two teams will play each other this season. Drury has won all three meetings.
If the Lady Panthers win their region, then they will come back to Missouri for the Elite 8.
