Box Score

Springfield, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team played a tough game against Drury on Tuesday night, dropping the contest 60-55. The Bearcats and Lady Panthers went back and forth for the final four minutes of the contest before Drury was able to seal the victory with free throws down the stretch.

The Lady Panthers jumped out to an early 17-4 lead six and a half minutes into the game before SBU started to chip away at the lead. The Bearcats went on a 16-5 run to cut the lead to 2 at 22-20 before Drury went on a run of their own to take a 31-23 lead into halftime.

The Bearcats came out aggressive at the start of the second half, going on an 11-2 run to take a 34-33 lead. The Bearcats and Lady Panthers would play the remainder of the contest close, but the Lady Panthers took a 50-43 lead with 7:48 to go in the game. However the Bearcats continued to battle back, regaining the lead at 51-50 with 4:34 to go in the contest. The Bearcats and Lady Panthers would remain within two points, with Drury up 57-55 with 52 seconds left in the game, before free throws would decide the final outcome.

Tanis Spani led the SBU offensive attack with 16 points off of 5-9 shooting from the field, including 4 three pointers. Freshman forward Morgan Lucy gave SBU a strong debut, recording her first double-double of her career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Bearcats also saw 7 points and 6 rebounds from Jacqui Zelenka and 7 points and 6 assists from Leann Lansdown.

The Bearcats played excellent defense, holding Drury to 28.8% shooting for the game. The Bearcats also shot the ball extremely well, going 21-44 from the field for 47.7% and 8-16 for 50.0% from beyond the arc. Free throws played a major factor in the outcome of the contest, with the Lady Panthers taking 30 free throw attempts to the Bearcats 6.

"First off, we dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and we weren't ready for the physicality of the game," head coach Todd Voss stated after the game. "I am really proud of the fight that we had and the fact that we put ourselves in a position to win the second half. We've been dealing with a lot of injuries and we have a lot we can build on, but we are obviously disappointed with the loss. Our squad showed a lot of positive signs, but we need to do a better job of rebounding and improving our execution."

SBU will return to action on Saturday, November 17 when they travel to Kansas City, Missouri to take on Rockhurst University. The game is set to tip off at 3:00 p.m.