Photo: Drury Athletics
The nation’s number one ranked Drury Lady Panthers made quick and decisive work of fifth-seeded Northern Michigan claiming their NCAA-II Women’s Midwest Regional Semifinal contest 78-56 at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Missouri. The Lady Panthers forced 23 first-half turnovers and scored 39 of their 47 first-half points off of those turnovers as Northern Michigan had no answer for the smothering pressure applied by Drury. Junior Hailey Diestelkamp paced the Drury scoring with 16 points, as freshman Paige Robinson and sophomore Emily Parker added 13 each and sophomore Azia Lynch pitched in with 10.
The number one-seeded Lady Panthers and third-seeded Grand Valley State will meet for the Midwest Regional Championship in a 7 pm game, Monday, March 18th at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield, Missouri with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite Eight March 26-29 in Columbus, Ohio.