Dec. 6, 2003

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Sophomore Shante Glenn hit the game-winning basket on a running, off-balance jumper in the lane with four seconds left to give Lewis a 71-68 upset victory over nationally ranked Bellarmine.

Bellarmine's Lynn Johnson-Thomas tied the game at 68-all with eight seconds left before Glenn raced up the floor and made the game-winner after Lewis had spurned taking a time out to set up a play.

"I've always been a believer that you'll get a better shot out of transition than you will if you take the time to set something up and also let the defense set up," said Plett. "It might have been different if we were behind, but people are going to do crazy things on defense in those situations and we got the shot to go in."

The Flyers (5-3, 3-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat the 11th-ranked Knights. The win also handed Bellarmine its first defeat of the season, dropping them to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC. It was the second straight upset of a nationally ranked team for the Flyers as they beat No. 10 Northern Kentucky Dec. 4. With a win against then-No. 24 Grand Valley State on Nov. 21, Lewis is 3-0 against nationally ranked teams this season. The victory also creates a four-way tie atop the GLVC standings with Lewis, Quincy, Bellarmine and Indianapolis.

"Right now we're showing that we have pretty good composure," said Lewis head coach Lynn Plett. "The team has a lot of determination and character to fight back against the No. 11 team in the nation against some adverse conditions."

Lewis trailed 20-32 at halftime due to a 22.2 percent (8-of-36) shooting performance in the opening stanza.

"Our offense was getting good shots in the first half, we just weren't making any of them," said Plett. "That's just one of those things where you hope the percentages will eventually work themselves out."

Things did work out in the second half as the team got aggressive and took it to the Knights. The Flyers shot 50 percent (17-of-34) in the second half and made seven 3-pointers after going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The tide of the game shifted with 15:40 left to play. Lewis was down 31-43, but just over two and a half minutes later Bellarmine's lead was just four at 44-40. Three minutes later the lead was gone and Lewis led 48-46 after freshman Darcee Schmidt (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) hit a 3-pointer with 10:08 to play.

"The momentum switched when we went to a half court trap and matchup zone defense," said Plett. "We were able to get a couple turnovers right away with it and we stymied their offense for a good stretch."

Bellarmine regained the lead at 7:44 and led 53-50 with 6:28 to play. However, Lewis senior Tracy Buchholz (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge) connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game and Glenn scored a layup off of a Knight turnover on the Flyers' ensuing possessions to give Lewis the lead for good.

Glenn finished with a team-high 17 points, was 5-of-6 from the free throw line and had four rebounds and two steals. She also dished out a career-high six assists for the third straight game.

Schmidt recorded 16 points and five rebounds, while Bryanne Callahan (Seneca, Ill./Seneca) had 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Johnson-Thomas scored 23 points, 21 in the first half, and had 10 rebounds to lead Bellarmine. Lyndsey Neal added 21 points and 10 rebounds.

12/6/03