For the first time this season the Missouri Western women’s basketball team came up on the short end in a 71-60 loss against the 16th ranked Drury Panthers in the Doubletree/Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic. The big difference in the game was that the Griffons made just 11-of-28 free throws to the Panthers 37-of-56. The Griffons fall to 4-1 with the loss and will take on the Missouri S&T Miners tomorrow (Nov. 30) at 7:45 pm.
Western led just once in the game which was at 4-1 after an Ariana Novak laypu with 16:06 to play in the game. The Panthers took the lead at the 14:18 mark when Sanayika Shields hit a jumper with 14:18 to play in the first frame. The game was close until the 9:04 mark when the Panthers closed the half on a 22-10 run expanding its lead to 14 at 41-27 at the half.
The Griffons did have 18 points in the paint at the half but 19 first half fouls helped the Panthers make 21-of-30 free throws. The Griffons shot just 10-of-32 from the field and 7-of-16 from the free throw line. Denise White had eight points while Tiara Hall had six rebounds.
The Panthers were led by Bethanie Funderburk and Shields with 10 points apiece while Kylie Williamson had seven rebounds.
Missouri Western was able to cut the lead to six at the 10:08 mark of the second half on a JaQuitta Dever layup making the score 51-45. From there the Panthers outscored the Griffons by five to pick up the 11 point victory. Drury improves to 5-0 with the victory.
The Griffons dominated the points in the paint outscoring the Panthers 42-20 but gave up 19 second chance points on 16 DU offensive rebounds. Western shot just 36.4-percent (24-66) from the field and 9.1-percent (1-11) from long range. Ten Griffons scored with White leading the way with 10. Hall finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.
Drury also struggled shooting making just 16-of-48 (33.3%) form the field and 18.2-percent (2-11) from long range. The Panthers had three players score in double figures with Funderburk finishing with 21 points making 9-of-11 free throws. Williamson had a game high 13 rebounds.
— MWSU Sports Information —