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LOUISVILLE – Lewis women's basketball dropped an 80-74 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision on Thursday (Jan. 19) evening at Bellarmine. Four Flyers scored in double-digits in the contest.
 
The Flyers trailed just 38-34 at halftime but took a route straight from a Family Circus cartoon to get there. After five minutes Lewis trailed 13-3. Just after the 10 minute mark Lewis experienced their biggest deficit of the game at 19 points, 27-8. Lewis then went on a 26-9 run to cut the deficit to just two points with 29 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) (Marion, Iowa/Marion) had seven points in the push. Freshman Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) drained a pair of treys in the stretch.
 
Senior Madeline Kish (Oak Forest, Ill./Sandburg)'s (Oak Forest, Ill./Sandburg/Eastern Illinois) only 3-pointer of the game just over five minutes into the second half gave Lewis their first lead of the game at 43-42. Sophomore Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington) (Washington, Ill./Washington) followed with one of her four 3-pointers to give Lewis their largest advantage at 46-42.
 
Lewis took their final lead of the game, 62-61 at 4:59, on a layup by freshman Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic). Down the stretch Lewis couldn't get the stops they needed to keep up with the Knights.  Bellarmine scored points on all but one possession during the game's final five minutes.
 
“You can't give up 80 points and expect to win,” Lewis head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “We did some good things offensively and on the glass but we couldn't string stops together.”
 
Lewis was led by Grayer's 18 points which tied a career high she set in a double overtime game against Upper Iowa earlier this season. Grayer also added seven rebounds. Nellen set career-highs with 14 points and nine assists. Reinhart added 13 points and eight rebounds. Rinehart totaled 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Flyers out-rebounded the Knights 42-35 and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.
 
Kylie Brady had a game-high 20 points for the Knights. Bellarmine improves to 7-9 (1-7 GLVC). Lewis falls to 4-12 (2-6 GLVC). Lewis travels to Northern Kentucky on Saturday for a 2 p.m. CT tip.