(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 9) — The McKendree University women's basketball team fell to No. 13 Drury University Thursday evening in Springfield, MO. The Bearcats dropped the contest by a score of 64-46.

The loss moves McKendree to 10-13 overall and 1-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this season. The Bearcats return to action Saturday afternoon in Rolla, MO against conference foe Missouri S&T at 1 p.m.

McKendree saw nine different player record points as freshman Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North), Madison Hart (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek), and Megan Jensen (Union, MO/Saint Francis Borgia Regional ) led the way with seven points each. Jensen and senior guard Shannon McGinnis (Niles, Ill./Trinity) each hauled in a team high four rebounds; while senior forward Ellie Pusheck (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) recorded a team high three steals.

Drury jumped out to an early 16-6 lead after the first quarter as the Panthers outscored the Bearcats 6-0 in the point and capitalized on 10 McKendree turnovers. Drury extended the lead to 14 with 3:06 to play in the second quarter with a 9-0 run before a layup from McGinnis stemmed the Panthers momentum. Drury was able to notch one final basket with 38 seconds to play in the half as the Panthers took a 27-13 lead into intermission.

McGinnis, Heberg, and Jensen all tallied baskets for McKendree in the third quarter, but Drury continued to keep its foot on the gas moving ahead 40-19 with 4:47 to play. McKendree was able out score the Panthers in the final minutes as freshman forward Shayli Florine (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg) and Hart each converted tries to cut the deficit to 18 points heading into the final quarter. The Bearcats slashed the lead to 12 with a 6-0 run midway through the fourth, but ran out of time down the stretch as Drury extended the lead back to 20 in the final minute and coasted to victory.