Contributed by Drury University Athletics Communications
Drury University’s run of seven consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championships came to an end on Sunday, March 10 as the Lady Panthers fell to the Lewis Flyers 79-67 in St. Charles, Mo.
But Drury’s season is not over. The Lady Panthers (25-6) received an NCAA Division II Tournament at-large bid late Sunday night and will face defending national champion Ashland (30-1) in the Midwest Regional on Friday, March 15 in Allendale, Mich.
Drury was seeded seventh in the eight-team regional with Ashland No. 2. Lewis, meanwhile, received the No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 seed Ferris State. Other games in the regional final No. 1 Grand Valley State facing eight seed Trevecca Nazarene and No. 4 Northern Michigan vs. No. 5 Kentucky Wesleyan.
Lewis (23-8) opened a 40-33 halftime lead in the GLVC title game. The Flyers led by as much as 14 in the second half, but Drury got as close as three in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.
Drury’s Reese Schaaf, the GLVC player of the year, was held to six points to go with 10 rebounds. The sophomore from El Dorado Springs became the second player in program history to reach 500 points and 300 rebounds in the same season. Hailey Diestelkamp accomplished the feat in 2018-19.
“They got Reese Schaaf frustrated early,” said Drury head coach Kaci Bailey. “They doubled, they crowded the paint and she couldn't go anywhere. They put some size on her (6-2 Gabrielle Hoover in her first start of the year) and clogged the middle.
“Lewis played a great game,” added Bailey. “They were, by far, the better team this afternoon. They played great defense in that they took away Reese, but they also took away driving lanes and the three-point line from our guards.”
Flyers guard Jenna Badali scored a game-high 31 points and was named the GLVC Tournament's Most Valuable Player. Badali made 10 of 17 shots and was 6 for 8 from three-point range.
Caitlynn Daniels scored 26 to lead Drury with Anna Hitt scoring 11.