SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury's Hailey Diestelkamp had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Panthers defeated Arkansas-Fort Smith 86-77 on Friday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on the first day of the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic.
 
11^th ranked Drury improved to 4-1. The Lions, a battle-tested team that was playing their fourth ranked team of the season, dropped to 3-3.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith, who was coming off of a win at 12^th ranked Central Missouri on Sunday, led throughout the first quarter and were up 23-20 after the game's first 10 minutes. The Lady Panthers responded by outscoring the Lions 21-16 in the second period to take a 41-39 lead at halftime.
 
Drury then stretched the lead 16 in the second half as they pulled away in the fourth quarter. 
 
"I saw two different teams from us tonight," said Drury head coach Molly Miller. "In the first half, we were a team that didn't play the defense that I know we can play. In the second half, we were a team that took pride in our defense and adjusted to their personnel."
 
Diestelkamp's double-double was her first of the season. The sophomore from Owensville, Missouri had eight games of double-figure points and rebounds last year as a freshman.
 
Alice Heinzler led Drury's balanced attack with 15 points. The senior from Republic also had five steals. Heather Harman and Lucia Fernandez also added 14 points.
 
Micayla Haynes had a game-high 24 points for Arkansas-Fort Smith on 9 of 15 shooting. 
 
The Lady Panthers play again tomorrow as they host Union (Tenn.) for the second day of the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by Missouri S&T taking on Arkansas-Fort Smith at 7:45 p.m.
 
 
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