The NCAA-II Women’s Midwest Regional Tournament begins on Friday, March 12 at 6 p.m. and goes until Monday, March 15 at 6 p.m. The tournament is hosted at Drury in the O’Reilly Family Event Center for the third straight season. This is the first event all year that fans and spectators will be able to attend. The Lady Panthers Head Coach Amy Eagan is excited for fans to attend the games.

“I’m super excited for our players to be able to play in front of a crowd. It’s been very different without fans, so they are gonna be excited about having people in the stands. I’m really excited for our newcomers because one of the things we sold them on was playing in front of a crowd and now they get to experience it a bit.”

With COVID, the future of college sports has been uncertain this year, and the team has felt the strain: “We have tried to stay as close to a normal season as possible with the understanding that we had to be adaptable to anything because it was just gonna be a different year.” 

Last year, the Lady Panthers were undefeated (32-0) and were hopeful to play in the NCAA-II National Championship before the season was canceled due to the pandemic. This year, with a new coach, and many senior players, they have been hopeful to get the opportunity to gain that title this year.

Eagan states, “We still pray every day that this year is gonna happen. You never know so we are taking it one day at a time. I know I will be coaching in the NCAA tournament for my team this year, but also for everyone in the program last year that got so much ripped away in an instant from them.”

The Lady Panthers are (20-1) and they have been preparing for the tournament the same way they would prepare for any other game, by practicing and watching film. They are excited to be playing as a family and a team, especially with many of the seniors ending their collegiate basketball career.

“Our seniors are amazing so I would like to keep all of them! I’m excited for the future! I think we have signed some unbelievable young women and have a great set of returners!”

Tickets for the 2021 Women’s Midwest Regional are available online at https://drurypanthers.com/sports/2021/3/2/WBB_0310143736.aspx 

Article by Emily Oliver and Marissa Mayfield