Complete Game Notes

Lewis women's basketball (4-11, 2-5 GLVC) hits the road for a pair of conference contests this week. First up is a trip to Louisville to face Bellarmine (6-9, 0-7 GLVC) at Knights Hall on Thursday. The contests starts at 4:30 p.m. CT.

AGAINST THE KNIGHTS - Bellarmine leads the all-time series with Lewis 37-19.

LAST TIME WE MET - The Flyers dropped a 82-76 decision to Bellarmine on Jan. 2 last season at Neil Carey Arena. Former Flyer Jenny Turpel (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) finished 15-of-36 with 33 points on a school and GLVC record 36 shot attempts.

FOR STARTERS - The insertion of freshman Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) into the startling lineup on Saturday gave Lewis their eighth starting combination of the season.

IT'S NIKKI...NI-NI-NI-NIKKI - Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) made the most of her first career start on Saturday against UIS by scoring 10 points, all in the second half. She made both of her 3-point attempts.

WRITE HER NAME IN INK - Freshman point guard Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) is the only Flyer to have started every game for the Flyers.

SAM I AM - Junior Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) scored a career-high 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting against UIS on Saturday.

THE GLVC IS FOR SAM - Junior Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) is averaging 11.8 points per game in GLVC games, up from her 7.9 average overall.

CALL SHERWIN-WILLIAMS - Lewis scored a season-high 48 points in the paint against UIS on Saturday.

JOHNSON & JOHNSON - In conference games only, freshman Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) ranks 6th in the GLVC in assists per game (3.67). She is the only freshman in the top 15 in the category. She recorded seven assists against Maryville on Jan. 5, a career-best for the young Flyer.

HOW YOUNG ARE THEY? - Lewis' eight newcomers have combined to play 1374 minutes, or 45.0 percent of the available court time. The newcomers have scored 374 points, or 38.7 percent of Lewis' 967 points.

THEY'RE SO YOUNG... - Lewis started four freshmen (Johnson, Nellen, Itschner, Reinhart) with sophomore Lauren Mead (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) against UIS on Saturday. It's the first time Lewis started four freshmen in a game since Nov. 21, 2003 when Darcee Schmidt, Mary Moskal, Erin Cox and Brittany Diener started against Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich. Lewis won the contest 60-57.

REJECTED - Sophomore Lauren Mead (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) ranks fourth in the GLVC in blocked shots per game with a 1.33 average. She's recorded a block in all but two games this year. She totaled four against McKendree on Nov. 14.

PERFECT FROM BEYOND THE ARC - Lewis made all five of their second half 3-point attempts against Southern Indiana on Dec, 1. The last time Lewis made every 3-point attempt in a half was when the Flyers drained all five attempts in the first half against Butler on Nov. 21, 2004. Lewis dropped the game at Hinkle Fieldhouse 71-59.

TAKING IT AWAY - The Flyers recorded 20 steals against BYU-Hawaii on Nov. 24th. It was the first time Lewis earned 20 steals in a game since recording 20 at Kentucky Wesleyan on Jan. 20, 2005.

ADDING AN ALL-AMERICAN - Hannah Koeneman (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) joined the Lewis women's basketball team on Dec. 8. The name might be familiar to those around the GLVC as she was an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Third Team selection as a senior right side hitter for Lewis in 2011. Koeneman recorded a team-high 299 kills with 91 blocks for the Flyers in 2011 and helped Lewis to a 25-7 record. The 6-2 forward with junior status for basketball last played organized basketball in high school.

UP NEXT - Lewis travels to Northern Kentucky for a 2 p.m. CT tip against the Norse on Saturday. It will likely be Lewis' final trip to NKU as the Norse are transitioning to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference next season.