Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team came up just short in a tough 77-76 loss against Drury on Tuesday evening. The Bearcats and Lady Panthers played a tough back-and-forth game, but the Bearcats ultimately ended up losing the contest.

Drury had a quick start in the opening minutes against SBU, taking an early 14-4 lead four minutes into the game. The Bearcats would slowly start to chip away at the lead, and take their first lead of the game (25-24) at the 5:02 mark in the first half off of free throw's from Alexis Botkin. SBU held a small lead for the remainder of the first half, going into halftime up 37-34.

In the second half SBU extended their lead to five off of a Brook Duncan layup, but Drury responded and took the lead with 17:09 left in the game. The Lady Panthers pushed their lead to 7, the largest of the second half for either team, with 4:21 to go in the game. However, the Bearcats wouldn't back down. Down by six, Dilonna Johnson hit a jumper, followed by a three from Brook Duncan to cut the lead to one at 1:19 to go in the game. After a DU bucket, Duncan hit another three to tie the contest up at 74-74. After a missed DU jumper, Johnson found Morgan Lucy down low to put SBU up 76-74 with 26 seconds left. Five seconds later DU hit a three, taking a 77-76 lead. After a missed shot by SBU, and a failed free throw from DU, the Bearcats were left with the ball for a final shot, but weren't able to beat the buzzer as SBU fell 77-76.

"I'm really proud of our effort and execution," head coach Todd Voss stated. "We are disappointed the final basket didn't count for the win, but we showed a lot of fight and determination: two things that will be trademarks of this team. We have room to grow and will do that moving forward."

After only 4 first half points, Brook Duncan exploded in the second half for 19 points, giving her 23 on the evening to go along with 12 rebounds, both career highs. Dilonna Johnson was also in double-figures with 16 points, while Morgan Lucy had 9 points and Jacqui Zelenka had 8 points and 9 rebounds. As a team SBU shot 39.3% from the field, 38.1% from beyond the arc, and 90.9% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, November 16 when they host Illinois-Springfield. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.