Drury University

Fresh off their impressive 92-85 overtime victory at No. 25 Grand Valley State on Monday, the Drury Lady Panthers will try to keep it rolling at home this weekend as they play host to the annual Lady Panthers/Sleep Inn Classic at Weiser Gym.

Drury (1-0) will take on Texas A&M-Commerce (0-0) at 6:15 p.m. Friday, a game preceded by nationally top-ranked Michigan Tech (1-0) facing Missouri Western (0-0) at 4.

On Saturday, Michigan Tech, an NCAA-II Elite Eight team a year ago, will play A&M-Commerce at 3 p.m. and the Lady Panthers will tackle Missouri Western at 5:15 p.m. to close out the Sleep Inn Classic.

This weekend also represents Drury's annual "Pack The House/Pack The Pantry" promotion at Weiser to benefit The Kitchen ; fans who donate two non-perishable items will receive a free general admission ticket, and four such items will land a free reserved seat. The goal is to raise one ton of food in the two-day event. 

Drury coach Steve Harold said he's been able to uncover little about Texas A&M-Commerce, which will be opening its season and has no published exhibition games.The Lions were picked for fourth in the Lone Star Conference North pre-season poll and are directed by first-year coach Nicole Anderson, a former UCLA standout in the early 1990s. They finished 18-11 last season, when then-senior Britney Jordan averaged an amazing 31.3 points per game.

The Lions' top returning scorers are 5-11 senior guard Nakazi Glover (9.9 points per game) and 5-7 junior guard Genevieve Campbell (8.9 points per game). 

Drury's opponent on Saturday, Missouri Western, is also making its season debut this weekend when the Griffons take on No. 1 Michigan Tech Friday. Missouri Western, which will host the 2010 NCAA-II Championships next March in St. Joseph, has played three exhibition games, losing to Missouri State 117-49 on Nov. 1 at the John Q. Hammons Arena, falling to Missouri-Kansas City 73-59 on Nov. 7 and defeating Livin' The Dream 81-64 on Nov. 12.

Lynn Plett - the former head coach at Lewis University, whose Flyers routinely battled Drury for GLVC supremacy a few years ago - is in his third season with the Griffons, coming off a 6-21 campaign. Western returns last year's MIAA Freshman of the Year in 5-11 sophomore Jessica Koch, who averaged 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season.

The Drury games both days will feature live video webcasts through www.B2TV.com on a pay-per-view basis, and will feature streaming audio of the JOCK 98.7 FM broadcast through www.jock987.com .

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