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Joliet, Ill. – Saturday (Dec. 1) night was the second time this season the Lewis University women's basketball team scored over 90 points this season when the Flyers defeated local rival St. Francis (Ill.) 90-50 at the Sullivan Center. Lewis defeated Northwood, 91-77, on Nov. 11 in Saginaw, Mich.

This was the first time since the Flyers defeated an opponent by more than 25 points since the Flyers' Dec. 4, 2010, 92-45 victory over University of Missouri-St. Louis.
 
The Flyers improve to 4-1 on the season while the Saints fall to 3-5.
 
“I thought we did a good job of establishing a big lead early which makes it nice to get our bench some playing time,” Lewis head women's basketball coach Lisa Carlsen said. “They come to practice everyday and work their tails off, to be rewarded with some playing time is always a good thing.”
 
Senior forward Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) led all scorers with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and made three-pointer, while four other Flyers also scored in double figures. Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington) came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, while Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) put in 12 points, making 4-of-6 baskets and 4-of-5 free throws. Both players pulled down five rebounds each.
 
“Sam shot the ball really effectively tonight,” Carlsen said. “She can be more of a scorer when she is confident.
 
“She did a nice job on the offensive end in limited minutes tonight, giving us a spark early.”
 
Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) and Mariyah Henley (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) both scored 10 points in the Flyers victory. Nellen went 4-for-7 from the floor, making two three pointers, while Henley went 2-for-2, including a made three-pointer and 5-for-7 from the charity stripe.
 
In the first half the squads exchanged the lead twice before the Flyers took control of the game on a Reinhart layup at 13-11 with 13:05 left in the half.
 
The Flyers continued to steadily build their lead, reaching 14 points at the end of the half to head into the locker room with a 42-28 lead. Lewis shot over 51% in the first half (17-33) and out rebounded St. Francis 24-17.
 
The Flyers defense was able to hold the Saints from scoring for over four minutes at the start of the second half. 

Lewis was able to extend their lead to 42 points on a Sophie Lichte (Reedsburg, Wis./Reedsburg) layup with 55 seconds left in the game but the Saints' Khadija Cooley hit two free throws late to drop the Flyers' lead to 40 points, 90-50.

Senior Labrenthia Murdock (Round Lake, Ill./Round Lake) scored seven points on 2-of-7 from the floor, hitting one three-pointer and going 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Kristin Itschner (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) added six points on three field goals and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Senior Hannah Koeneman (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) scored two baskets in her first game of the season while fellow reserves Diamond Lane (Maplewood, Minn./South) and Amy Mlynarski (Palos Heights, Ill./Mount Assisi) also scored four points in the second half.
 
Freshman Alyssa Dengler (Chicago, Ill./Trinity) was the only Flyer who saw playing time that didn't score. She had six assists, two rebounds and one steal. 
 
Lewis is back in action on Thursday (Dec. 6) when the Flyers welcome the Judson Eagles to Neil Carey Arena. Game time is set for 5:30 PM.