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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Lewis women's basketball's attempt to defend their 2010-11 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship ended on Thursday (March 1) evening with an 86-72 loss to top seed Quincy at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in the 2012 SCHEELS GLVC Tournament Second Round.
 
The game of basketball has a way of evening itself out. In Sunday's victory at Missouri S&T Lewis benefited from an 8-of-27 performance beyond the arc by the Lady Miners. On Thursday against Quincy the Lady Hawks were 9-of-14 from 3-point land in just the first half. Their success from long range helped Quincy take a 44-29 advantage to the break.
 
Lewis freshman Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) scored 13 of her 19 points in the first half for the eighth seeded Flyers. She finished 8-of-14 from the floor with nine rebounds.
 
Despite the double-digit deficit at the break, the Flyers didn't roll over in the second. A 17-3 Lewis run put the Flyers within three points at 61-58 with 10:23 left. Six different Flyers scored in the stretch. It was a 63-60 Quincy advantage after a 10-foot jumper by junior Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) (Marion, Iowa/Marion) with 8:53 left. However the Lady Hawks proceeded to go on a 20-2 run to clinch the game.
 
“We made some defensive changes and were more aggressive in the second half,” Lewis head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “We turned things around in a short time but the problem is when we committed turnovers Quincy was almost guaranteed to convert it to points on the other end.”
 
Quincy made six additional treys in the second half to finish 15-of-28 from beyond the arc for the game. Lucy Cramsey made 7-of-10 3-point attempts. One short of the GLVC Tournament record. She finished with 25 points. Ali Schwagmeyer had 21 points for the Lady Hawks.
 
Lewis held a 36-31 advantage on the glass and a 41-28 advantage in points in the paint despite Quincy's size advantage.
 
“Sunday and today were two valuable experiences,” Carlsen said. “You saw young kids learning and seeing this environment first hand is really important.”
 
Lewis shot 47.5 percent (26-of-61) from the floor. Quincy finished 50.8 percent (32-of-63).
 
Freshman Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) totaled 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting with three 3-pointers. She also added five assists.
 
Quincy improves to 21-6. The Lady Hawks will play the winner of Northern Kentucky-Maryville in the GLVC Semifinals on Saturday. Lewis ends the season 8-20.