There’s a new look to Drury Lady Panthers basketball this season, with Kaci Bailey and a new coaching staff on the sideline plus a host of new players creating a roster overhaul.
Then again, the most important element of all has not changed. The Lady Panthers continue to win at a high level, with an 8-2 record entering a short break in the schedule prior to a longer one. Drury plays host to Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. on Dec. 19, then is off until after the new year.
Despite a two-point loss on Saturday to visiting Southwest Baptist, Drury is ranked No. 20 in this week’s NCAA Division II women’s poll. The Lady Panthers were not ranked in the preseason — the first time in eight years, covering 152 polls, that they were not ranked.
‘We really don’t care what everybody else thinks'
The players and coaches said they were not offended, even though Drury’s great tradition would have figured to have meant something to voters. Bailey said it’s part of the territory with the coaching change and the loss of all five starters from last season’s 31-2 team that reached the NCAA Regionals.
“We really don’t care what everybody else thinks, we’re worried about what we think within our walls and within our family,” Bailey said. “We’re just focused on trusting the process and on getting better.”
If the players were bothered, they aren’t showing it.
“I’m more focused on what we do on the court and I’m not worried about outside talk,” said forward Reese Schaaf, last year’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. “It’s about what’s getting done on the court and how we grow from that.”
Trying to get off the early season roller coaster
Bailey replaced Amy Eagan after Eagan, 87-9 in three seasons as Drury’s head coach, took a job at NCAA Division I Lindenwood. She knows the standards are high, but being ranked or not is not the important thing at this stage of the season.
“We’re focused on us and right now, not so much on the outside,” Bailey said. “We put on our preseason shirts ‘Do your job.’ We didn’t even talk about how we weren’t ranked and we haven’t talked about being ranked now.”
And despite the good start, there is plenty of room for improvement, with the home-court loss to Southwest Baptist a prime example. That defeat came two days after Drury beat William Jewell by 17.
Bailey has seen the inconsistency of the season’s opening weeks, even if the record has not reflected it.
“We’re new and still trying to figure it out,” Bailey said. “I’ve told everyone that I’d much rather figure it out winning than figure it out while losing. I think our biggest thing right now is figuring out consistency and how to put back-to-back good days of practice together and back-to-back good games.
“We have to quit riding the rollercoaster, but I am super proud of where we are and what we have done this early thus far.”
Key transfers mixing with returning contributors
It’s an interesting mix of newcomers and returnees that Bailey has assembled. Three players who saw significant minutes last season are back, including El Dorado Springs High School graduate Schaaf. She’s averaging 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds.
Drury's newcomers include guard Beth Matas Martin, an All-GLVC selection who transferred from Quincy. The Girona, Spain, native ranked fifth in the conference in scoring last year, averaging 16.3 points and shooting .398 from three-point range. This season, Martin leads the Lady Panthers in scoring, at 15.6, and in 3-pointers (30).
A third double-figure scorer is guard Caitlynn Daniels, a junior transfer from Alabama-Birmingham. The 5-foot-9 Daniels is getting 10.4 points and leads the team with 7.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
The Lady Panthers also brought home Makaiya Brooks, who transferred from Memphis. Brooks played two seasons for the Tigers but had a stellar high school career at Springfield Central where she set the all-time scoring record for Springfield Public Schools, racking up 2,359 career points.
“It’s really enjoyable to blend with the new teammates,” Schaaf said. “At the beginning of the season, it’s fun to learn everybody’s personnel. We’re still learning to jive with each other, but I think when we do finally get everyone working with each other, it’s going to be very good.”
Lady Panthers adapting to new coaches, systems
Bailey, a former assistant to Drury athletics director Nyla Milleson when Milleson coached at George Mason, came to Drury after two seasons as head coach at Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Quincy. The Lady Panthers beat her old team 81-56 on Nov. 27.
“It is an experience,” Schaaf said of transitioning to Bailey’s coaching style. “It’s fun getting to learn new coaching views. It’s kind of like the same stuff I worked with. It’s fun to see how Coach Bailey and the staff run practices and how involved they are.
“Some things are different, but it’s still pretty high-motor stuff. It’s the Drury culture.”
The playing style is a bit different than it was under Eagan and her predecessor, Molly Miller, as both of those coaches emphasized full-court, pressing defense.
“I think the biggest difference from what they did last year and what we’re doing this year is we’re not pressing,” Bailey said. “We’re more of a ‘We’re gonna guard you in half court.’ We’re obviously gonna get up and turn you some, but that’s not our identity of pressing you for 40 minutes.
“I think we pride ourselves on playing half-court defense and stopping people, taking them out of what they want to do. Offensively, we want to push the ball in transition. I think we want to share the ball and celebrate others. I think we’re fun to watch and really good when we do that, when we move the ball and share the ball.”
Bailey not intimidated by taking over high-level program
Bailey said the Drury experience and tradition have been everything she thought they would be, and then some. She is not intimidated by taking over a program that is 267-67 (.911 winning percentage) over the previous nine seasons.
Continuing the high-level winning and building on it is the plan. In the short term, the Lady Panthers have been battling some injuries at the guard position and Bailey is hopeful that having only one game in 25 days will have them ready to roll come January.
“It’s a journey and always gonna have highs and lows, but I wouldn’t trade this group for anything,” Bailey said. “There is a lot of basketball still to be played and we have to make sure we are getting better every day, every game so we can get to where we want to be in March.
“We talk about falling in love with the process. We’re in that hard stretch right now where it’s finals. There’s a lot going on. Christmas break will be good for us.”
