Lady Panthers to Host Grand Valley State

Posted March 17, 2019

Lady Panthers vs Grand Valley State in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Finals

The number one ranked Drury Lady Panthers host Grand Valley State in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship game on Monday night at 7 pm in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

The Lady Panthers are the top seed in the region and are 33-0 while the Lakers are 29-3, are seeded third and are tied for 10th in the lastest NCAA-II coaches’ poll.

The winner of Monday’s game advances to the NCAA-II Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio March 26-29.

Monday’s game marks the fourth straight appearance for Drury in the regional finals and the round of 16 on the national bracket. It is their 10th appearance in a regional championship game. The Lady Panthers have won three regional titles in their history (2014, 2007, and 2004).

Notes to Know:

–Drury became the first team history of the GLVC to go undefeated in the league’s regular season AND the conference tournament. The Lady Panthers completed an 18-0 league regular season, then won the GLVC tournament title on Sunday.

–Drury’s 33-game winning streak is the longest in program history and topped the previous mark of 30 set by their national runner-up team in 2003-04.

–This season marks the Lady Panthers third straight 30-win season. Drury went 30-4 in 2016-17, 31-3 in ‘17-18, and is 31-0 so far this year. They are 92-5 in the last three years combined with a 52-2 GLVC record in that span.

–Last week, Hailey Diestelkamp broke the program’s all-time rebounding record previously held by Melanie Oliver (2007-10) with 812. Diestelkamp enters tonight’s game with 839 career boards.

–Diestelkamp also broke Drury’s single-season scoring record in last week’s win over Bellarmine. She passed Lindsay Ballweg’s total of 644 set in 2009-10. Hailey has 701 points entering the tournament and she needs 22 more rebounds to break the single-season mark in that category.

–Daejah Bernard entered the NCAA-II tournament leading the nation in steals and has 123 for the year. On Feb. 28, she set a program record for assists in a single season and comes into tonight’s game with 198.

Lady Panthers in the NCAA-II Tournament

The Lady Panthers are making their 16th national tournament appearance in just their 19th year of existence as a program. Drury is in the regional championship game for the fourth year in a row and for the 10th time in team history. The Lady Panthers are 3-6 in their history in the national round of 16 and have advanced to the Elite Eight in 2014, 2007, and 2004. Their 2007 Midwest Regional Championship game was won at Romeoville, Illinois while the ‘14 and ‘04 regional titles were captured at home. Drury is facing Grand Valley State for the fourth time in an NCAA-II tournament game in team history. Drury lost to the Lakers in the 2016 Midwest Regional Finals 62-60 in overtime in Ashland, Ohio in their last head-to-head encounter.

NCAA-II Midwest Regional Tournament

Friday, March 15, Quarterfinals

Grand Valley St. 89 Truman St. 64

Lewis 86 Walsh 71

DRURY 88 Kentucky Wesleyan 57

Northern Michigan 64 Ashland 57

Saturday, March 16 – Semifinals

Grand Valley St. 72 Lewis 55

DRURY 78 Northern Michigan 56

Monday, March 18 – Championship, 7 pm

DRURY vs Grand Valley St.

QUICK FACTS