This Week In Drury Athletics, March 8-13 ...
BASKETBALL
Congrats to the Lady Panthers for winning their second Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in three years, courtesy of a 68-63 triumph over Wisconsin-Parkside in the GLVC Tournament finals Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Ill.
Lindsay Ballweg, who was named the tourney's Most Outstanding Player, scored 19 points to lead the Lady Panthers, who rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to improve to 26-6 overall with their eighth consecutive victory. Melanie Oliver joined Ballweg on the GLVC All-Tournament team.
For those who missed the game, and the post-game trophy presentation, we've attached video highlights to the game story available by
clicking here.
The Panthers lost to eventual tourney champion Bellarmine 85-65 in Saturday night's semifinals to drop to 23-6 and have their five-game winning streak snapped. Sophomore guard Dennon Mitchell, however, was named to the GLVC All-Tournament team for his efforts.
Both Drury squads are headed for NCAA-II Midwest Regional action this weekend as No. 3 seeds. The Lady Panthers open play Friday at 11 a.m. CST against sixth-seeded Southern Indiana in Houghton, Mich., on the campus of No. 1 seed and host Michigan Tech, while the Panthers will face sixth-seeded Quincy in a noon tipoff on Saturday in Owensboro, Ky. Drury's squads defeated both teams in their only regular season meetings, both at Weiser Gym.
The women's regional semifinals are Saturday night and the finals on Monday night, while the men will play semifinals on Sunday night and finals on Tuesday night.
Fans who can't make it to the games can follow all of the action live on JOCK 98.7 FM (
www.jock987.com). A pair of outstanding Drury students/sports radio rising stars, John Miller (women) and Josh Thompson (men), will call the action at the respective regionals.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
It's that time of year already ... when the Drury men's and women's swimming and diving teams go off to the national championships and come home with the heavy hardware.
Starting Wednesday through Saturday, the squads of swimming coach Brian Reynolds and diving coach Richard Hackett will be in Canton, Ohio for nationals, as the DU men are in hot pursuit of their sixth consecutive national championship, while the women will be seeking their second straight title and third in the last four seasons.
The men are a young and hungry bunch, with only one senior - standout Alexander Protsenko. The DU women have a tremendous mix of veterans and talented newcomers, led by the outstanding senior group of Lauren Bader, Jing Hua, Abbey Musch and Deidre Rosel.
You can follow all the action, including live video and scoring updates, by visiting the
NCAA's official D-II Swimming and Diving Championships website.
BASEBALL
The Panthers concluded a 1-2 showing in last weekend's Heffington Optical Invitational at Meador Park with one of the wildest games in the program's four-year history, a 19-18, come-from-behind triumph over Arkansas Tech Sunday night.
Drury trailed by nine runs (12-3) in the fifth inning before the huge rally, which included a walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth by senior Jason Hall.
The Panthers already have cancelled Tuesday's scheduled non-conference doubleheader with Truman State at Meador due to the threat of heavy rains in the area.
Drury is back in action this weekend at Meador, playing host to Saint Joseph's on Saturday and Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday in noon doubleheaders each day to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
SOFTBALL
Coach Annie Medico's Panthers are coming off a split of their four GLVC-opening games over the weekend at Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday and Bellarmine on Sunday.
The Panthers (5-10) have a non-league doubleheader on Wednesday at Central Missouri in Warrensburg before returning home to entertain two of the league's heavyweights, Northern Kentucky and preseason favorite Indianapolis, on Saturday and Sunday in noon double-headers each day, respectively, at Thompson Field.
Seniors Sadie Ball (.409, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs) and Jessica Matlock (.354, 5 HRs, 14 RBIs) are leading the Panthers at the plate, while junior Kelsea Garthoff (4-4, 2.98 ERA) has been the best of the bunch so far on the mound for DU.
GOLF
It was a successful, and sunny, trip to Arizona for the Drury men's and women's golf teams last weekend as they participated in the Lewis University Shootout At Aguila in Laveen, Ariz.
Coach Lisa Tinkler's women won their tournament by a whopping 34 shots over runner-up and fellow GLVC power Indianapolis, led by a second-place finish from sophomore Katrina Choate, while the DU men finished second only to host Lewis (by seven strokes), led by a second-place finish from junior Andrew Funk.
The DU men are back in action next Monday and Tuesday, when they play host to the Drury Invitational at the Rivercut Golf Course, while Tinkler's women will play Arkansas-Fort Smith in a dual match at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin on March 19.
TENNIS
It was a light week of competition for both Drury teams, but both also took care of business with victories.
Coach Luc Godin's Panthers (3-1) defeated Graceland 7-2 on Friday at the Cooper Tennis Complex, while coach Jarrod Smith's DU women's squad (5-0) downed Oklahoma Baptist 8-1 on Sunday in Fort Smith.
Both teams are headed to Maryville for weekend matches, as the DU women will play Nebraska-Kearney at 3 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Northwest Missouri State at 11 a.m. on Sunday, while the DU men will play Northwest, also at 11 on Sunday.