March 1, 2008

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Despite a gutsy push in the second half, Lewis fell 68-62 to Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game. The loss, combined with Southern Illinois Edwardsville's victory over Rockhurst, leaves the Flyers out of the GLVC Tournament. Northern Kentucky's win earned the Norse the GLVC East Division Championship.

Freshman Jenny Turpel scored the first points of the game on a layup. On the next possession junior Kelly Dianis stole the ball to set up a fast break. Senior Jennifer Green found junior Jenna Mooberry for a layup. The Flyers eventually took an 8-0 advantage before the Norse tied it up at 12. Northern Kentucky kept the pressure on the Flyers, taking an 11-point lead on a Jessie Slack layup with 6:35 remaining. After the Norse took a 13-point lead, sophomore Amy Smith hit a jumper and Dianis drained two free throws to cut the lead to single digits with 1:20 left in the opening period. But the Norse offense scored four of the next five points to take a 12-point lead into the break.

Northern Kentucky's Angela Healy hit her first two shots of the second half to give the Norse a 16-point lead at 42-26. Back-to-back Turpel treys got it back to 10 and helped Lewis stay close. Lewis cut the Norse lead to six points three times during a two and half minute span, but each time Northern Kentucky responded with a basket. The Flyers got to six points again with 2:43 on three Dianis free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. With 2:03 left Dianis notched a steal and Turpel was fouled attempting a layup. Turpel hit both free throws to get the Flyers within four at the 1:53 mark. But the Norse hit 5-of-7 free throws down the stretch to help pull away from the Flyers

Green, the Flyers' lone senior, was honored on Senior Day. She finished with eight points and a career-high seven rebounds. Turpel had a game-high 18 points. She was 6-of-9 from the floor including 4-of-4 from long range. Dianis finished with 17 points, making 8-of-10 from the line. Mooberry added eight points and seven rebounds.

Healy scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Northern Kentucky. Slack added 16 points. The Norse finish the regular season 20-7 (13-6 GLVC) and will host Southern Illinois Edwardsville in the first round of the GLVC Tournament.

Lewis finishes the season 13-13 (8-9 GLVC).