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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis women's basketball seniors Devon Carbaugh (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) and Madeline Kish (Oak Forest, Ill./Sandburg) (Oak Forest, Ill./Sandburg/Eastern Illinois) celebrated their Senior Night on Saturday (Feb. 18) with a key Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Saint Joseph's 72-70. The victory puts the Flyers in control of their fate as they fight for a GLVC Tournament berth. A win on Thursday at UW-Parkside puts Lewis in the tournament.  A UIS loss at Quincy on Thursday would also put the Flyers in the tournament.
 
Lewis led 11-10 in the first half before the Flyers scored 20 of the game's next 30 points. The stretch helped Lewis take a 39-30 lead to the break.  Freshman Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) scored 16 points in the first half.
 
The Pumas cut the Lewis' lead to three points at 53-50 midway through the second half. Reinhart responded with a basket and then freshman Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) drained a 3-pointer to push the Flyers' advantage to eight points.
 
A layup by Nellen put Lewis up by nine points with two minutes remaining. Back-to-back Saint Joseph's 3-pointers cut the Flyers' lead to 68-65 with 1:08 left. Nellen calmly made a pair of free throws to put Lewis back up by five points. Nellen found herself at the line again with seven seconds left and the Flyers up 72-70. She left the front end of a one-and-one short. The Pumas' Tatiana Ortiz grabbed the board and delivered a quick outlet pass to Montrell Mills. Mills moved quickly down the court to the top of the key. Mills' runner at the foul line was contested by freshman Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) just enough to miss the mark.
 
“We played a good ball game,” Lewis head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “Give Saint Joe's credit they made a real good run at it in the end but we did enough to pull out the victory.”
 
Nellen's miss at the free throw stripe was Lewis' only of the game after making their first 22 attempts.
 
Reinhart finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Reinhart was 8-for-8 from the chairty stripe. Kish had 15 points and drained a trio of 3-pointers. Nellen totaled 12 points. Carbaugh just missed a double-double with 10 rebounds and nine points.
 
Despite the exciting finish, the Flyers never trailed in the game. The only tie in the contest came at 2-2 in the game's initial minutes.
 
Saint Joseph's falls to 13-12 (7-10 GLVC). Lewis improves to 7-18 (5-12 GLVC). Lewis closes the regular season at No. 16 UW-Parkside on Thursday.