March 9, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - No. 4 seed Drury (23-8) overcame an early double-figure deficit and posted a 76-61 victory over No. 5 Southern Illinois Edwardsville (20-9) Friday in a Great Lakes Regional first-round contest.

After SIUE raced to a 17-5 advantage with 12:44 left in the first half, Drury closed the opening period with a 29-8 run that gave the Panthers a 34-25 halftime lead. Drury scored the first six points of the second half and led by as many as 28 on two occasions.

The Panthers shot 46 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point distance while holding the Cougars to an icy 13 percent (2-of-15).

Becky Flippin had 18 points to top the Drury scoring chart. Other big contributors for the Panthers were Molly Carter (15 points, 6 rebounds), Greta Wiersch (13 points), Hannah Carter (game-high 7 assists) and Katie Ekedahl (7 rebounds).

SIU Edwardsville's Amber Shelton led all scorers with 19 points. Julianne McMillen had 10 points and 7 rebounds, Whitney Sykes collected 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, and Julie Sweetin grabbed 6 rebounds.

Drury will take on No. 1 seed Lewis in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal.