ST LOUIS - As the Lewis women's basketball team cut down the nets, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blared over the Moloney Arena speakers. How appropriate. The ninth seeded Flyers upset four higher seeds to win the 2011 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship. The run culminated with a 71-68 victory over Indianapolis on Sunday.
"Since the win over Missouri S&T (in the opening round) it has all just blended together," head coach Lisa Carlsen said. "We played tremendous basketball and I think what it comes down to is the team making the collective decision to buy in and play together."
Lewis took a quick 6-0 lead after five offensive rebounds in the game's first three minutes. Sophomore Labrenthia Murdock (Round Lake, Ill./Round Lake) made a trey midway through the first half for Lewis' first outside points after scoring their first 18 points in the paint. A jumper by sophomore Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) on the next Lewis possession gave Lewis their largest lead of the half at 23-14 with 9:22 remaining. Over the rest of the stanza UIndy chipped at the lead to make it 34-33 in favor of Lewis at the break. Lewis had 12 second chance points in the opening half to UIndy's zero.
A 12-5 run out of the break gave Lewis a 46-38 advantage and forced UIndy to ask for time despite an upcoming media timeout. Turpel had five points in the run. Lewis led up until 8:12 on the clock when Heather Gonser drained a 3-pointer for UIndy to tie it up. A Shelby Wall 3-pointer gave UIndy their first and only lead of the game at 56-55 a minute later. Rinehart followed with a jumper to give the lead back to Lewis. While the Flyers never trailed again, it was always close. A Turpel layup gave Lewis a 69-65 lead with 36 seconds left. Wall drained a 3-pointer to make it 69-68 with 12 seconds showing on the clock. Currin calmly made a pair of free throws to make it a three point game with seven seconds remaining. UIndy had one last chance to tie it, but Kristen Turner's 3-point attempt was well contested by Lewis and was no good. The final buzzer sounded and the Lewis bench stormed the court.
Senior Jenny Turpel (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) finished with 25 points, 15 in the second half. She was 10-of-16 from the floor. Turpel was named to the all-tournament team and named the tournament MVP.
"Jenny wanted the ball and took it upon herself today," Carlsen said. "She was willing to put it on her shoulders."
Senior Kady Currin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) totaled eight assists, six points and four steals. She was also named to the all-tournament team. Currin played all 165 minutes of the tournament.
"Kady is the heart and soul of what we do," Carlsen said. "Kady and Jen (Turpel) had a refuse to lose attitude."
Rinehart and junior Lory Shaw (Gurnee, Ill/UW-Green Bay) each added 11 points.
Murdock scored six points and had five assists.
Lewis shot 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the floor and limited UIndy to 38.5 percent shooting. The Greyhounds attempted 32 3-pointers, making 10.
"I didn't think we played poor defensively today," Carlsen said. "They hit some big shots and I give credit; they never gave up."
The win gives Lewis their fourth GLVC Championship. Lewis also earns the GLVC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. It will be Lewis' seventh NCAA appearance in program history. It's Lewis' first NCAA berth and GLVC Championship since 2006-07. The Flyers learn their seed and first round opponent late Sunday night.
Lewis improves to 15-15. Indianapolis falls to 17-13.
