SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Lewis University's women's basketball team's upset bid at top ranked Drury came up short as the Panthers rallied for a 75-61 win on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo. The Flyers (3-9, 1-3 GLVC) led by 17 at half and led by as many as 19 early in the third quarter.

Lewis scored the first four points of the contest but Drury (16-1, 6-0 GLVC) responded with five straight to take its only lead of the half on a layup by Terion Moore with 6:18 left in the opening quarter. The Flyers responded with eight straight points to build a seven-point lead behind three points apiece from Amelia Motz (Canton, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Shawnton Brown (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) and two more from Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West). Lewis extended its lead to 11 by the end of the quarter with five straight points from Tara Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West).

The Flyers opened the second quarter with six straight points to push its lead to 24-8 after a jumper from Brown. The Panthers used a 12-5 run over the next four minutes to cut Lewis' lead to nine points but the Flyers were unfazed as Ta. Gugliuzza hit a three on the ensuing possession to give Lewis its double-digit lead back and sparked an 11-3 run over the remainder of the half which gave the Flyers a 17-point lead at halftime.

Lewis was led in the opening half by Ta. Gugliuzza and Brown with 11 points apiece while Motz added nine more. The Flyers shot 52 percent (14-for-27) from the field in the first 20 minutes including 5-of-8 from three and were perfect at the foul line (7-for-7).

Lewis scored the first bucket of the third quarter on a pull-up jumper from Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) to take its largest lead of the game at 42-23 less than a minute into the third quarter. The Flyers still led by 18 when Drury began to make a run. The Panthers scored eight straight points getting a pair of three's from Allie Clevinger and a two from Alana Findley to cut the Lewis lead to 10 points. Motz momentarily silenced the run hitting a driving layup for the Flyers final bucket of the contest. Drury then ran off six straight to get within six with less than two minutes to play in the stanza.

Lindsay Harrison (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) gave Lewis an eight-point lead hitting two free throws and Tay. Gugliuzza hit 3-of-4 at the charity stripe to give the Flyers a nine-point lead at the end of the quarter.

The Panthers opened the final quarter on a 10-0 run to take its first lead since early in the game when Moore completed an old fashioned three-point play to give Drury a 53-52 lead with 7:41 to play. The lead was short lived as Ta. Gugliuzza hit two free throws when Moore was given a technical foul for taunting. That would be Lewis' final lead of the game as the Panthers scored 16 of the next 17 points to take a 12-point lead and wouldn't allow the Flyers to get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Drury turned up its defensive intensity in the second half holding the Flyers to just 3-of-17 shooting including 0-for-6 in the final 10 minutes. All nine of Lewis' points in the final quarter came at the foul line.
The Flyers finished the game shooting 39 percent (17-for-44) from the floor, were 6-of-16 from three and shot 91 percent at the foul line. Ta. Gugliuzza led four Lewis players in double figures with 15 points while Motz, Brown and Tay. Gugliuzza added 11 points apiece and Hilber finished with nine points.

The Panthers shot 50 percent (16-for-32) from the field in the second to finish the game shooting 40 percent (25-of-62) from the floor. They were 8-of-19 from three and shot 77 percent at the charity stripe. Kaylee DaMitz finished with a game-high 32 points while Moore added 15 points and Clevinger finished with 14 points.

The Flyers begin a three-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 13) evening hosting Missouri-St. Louis at 5:30 p.m.