Drury women’s basketball head coach Kaci Bailey has unveiled the Lady Panthers’ 2025-26 schedule, featuring 27 games, including 13 contests at O’Reilly Family Event Center.
The season tips off with back-to-back road matchups against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponents. Drury will visit Ferris State on Nov. 16, followed by a trip to Saginaw Valley State on Nov. 18. Ferris State reached the NCAA Division II National Tournament last season before exiting in the opening round.
Advertisement
The Lady Panthers will open their 16th season at O’Reilly Family Event Center on Nov. 21, hosting Texas A&M International for their annual Hiland Dairy Kids Game.
Drury guard Rhi Gibbons
Drury will host its Seventh Annual Oasis Hotel and Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 25–26. This year’s field includes Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) opponents Missouri Southern and Arkansas-Fort Smith, as well as fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) member Truman State.
Conference play begins on the road Dec. 1, when Drury travels to face Southwest Baptist. That game kicks off a six-game road stretch, with additional matchups at Truman State (Dec. 4), Quincy (Dec. 6), Union (Dec. 15), and a return visit to Arkansas-Fort Smith (Dec. 20).
Advertisement
The Lady Panthers return home for their first GLVC contest in Springfield on Jan. 2, when Rockhurst comes to town. Drury will host Lincoln for Hall of Fame Day at the O’ on Jan. 10.
A marquee matchup will take place on Jan. 29, when the Lady Panthers travel to face back-to-back GLVC regular-season champions Lewis.
Drury’s annual Homecoming Game is set for Feb. 7 against Truman State. The regular season home finale is scheduled for Feb. 26 vs. Missouri-St. Louis, before closing out the season two days later at Missouri S&T in Rolla on Feb. 28.
The GLVC Tournament begins March 5, with opening-round games hosted on campus sites. This marks a change from previous seasons, when the tournament was held in St. Charles.
Advertisement
Drury returns First Team All-GLVC guard Rhi Gibbons, who averaged 14 points per game last season, for her senior campaign. Also returning are Kaylee King and Sara Mendel. King provided a key spark off the bench in 2024-25, highlighted by a career-high 16-point performance in the GLVC Semifinals. Mendel was one of the league’s top rebounders, averaging 8.1 boards per game — fifth-best in the GLVC.
Head coach Kaci Bailey enters her third season leading the Lady Panthers. Drury finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 22-7 record, marking the program’s 12th consecutive season with at least 20 wins.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Drury University announces 2025-26 Women’s Basketball schedule
