Drury's Lady Panthers will look to snap a rare two-game losing streak when they return to the friendly confines of Weiser Gym for a Tuesday night Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup with Southern Indiana.
The 5:45 p.m. tipoff with the Screaming Eagles is a rescheduled game from Jan. 18, when USI suffered the tragic loss of men's basketball player Jeron Lewis after a game at Kentucky Wesleyan. It's the first of three home games this week for the Lady Panthers, who entertain Maryville on Thursday night and UMSL on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Panthers (18-6, 10-3) dropped a pair of hard-fought, four-point decisions on the road last week at GLVC East powers Northern Kentucky (66-62) and No. 2 Indianapolis (69-65). In the latter, Drury led for much of the contest, including 44-39 at the half, but the unbeaten Greyhounds (23-0, 13-0 in the GLVC) used big buckets from junior standout Samantha Meissel in the closing minutes to fight past the Lady Panthers in the closest home game Indy has had all season.
Lindsay Ballweg led Drury with 17 points, while Melanie Oliver established a new DU single-game record with 22 rebounds to go with her 15 points. Oliver, who had 15 rebounds (to Indy's 12 as a team) in the first half, broke the old mark of 21 boards by Amanda Newton set in 2004.
Southern Indiana improved to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in the GLVC with a sweep of UMSL (75-66) and Rockhurst (81-71 in overtime) in Evansville last week to improve to 11-0 at home this season. That includes an 85-76 win ove Northern Kentucky on Dec. 5. The Screaming Eagles also have played top teams in the league tough on the road, falling at Indy and UW-Parkside by identical 74-64 scores late last month.
Ellen Young, a 5-5 junior, averages 14.9 points and Amie Newhart, a 5-6 junior, adds 12.1 points to lead USI, which paces the GLVC in turnover margin at plus 5.96 and is fourth in the league in scoring at just over 76 points per game.
Drury leads the all-time series with Southern Indiana by a 6-2 count, including a split of their games last season - a 90-86 overtime loss in Evansville and a 75-69 win at Weiser Gym.
Tuesday's game will air live on JOCK 98.7 FM (
www.jock987.com), while a video webcast, available for $7, can be seen at www.B2TV.com.
Game Notes