Box Score Box Score (pdf)

Romeoville, Ill. – The tale of the box score in the Lewis University women's basketball team's 77-65 win over Lincoln Memorial on Thursday (Dec. 19) at Neil Carey Arena will show the Flyers' key to victory was pulling down a season-high 61 rebounds.
 
Cleaning the board led to 17 big second-chance points for the Flyers, now 6-2 on the year, while holding a 19 rebound advantage over the Railsplitters, who fall to 4-5 on the season, and to four second-chance buckets.
 
Lewis sophomore forward Mariyah Brawner-Henley (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) paced the Flyers with 15 points, matched a career-high 17 rebounds and had three blocked shots. Junior forward Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) totaled 11 points and 13 rebounds while redshirt-sophomore guard Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) had 13 points and three steals.
 
Flyer junior guard Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) tallied 12 points and five assists while classmate Kristin Itschner (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) collected 11 points, five assists and three blocked shots. Sophomore guard Alyssa Dengler (Chicago, Ill./Trinity) scored a career-high 10 points, including two three-pointers, and collected two assists and two rebounds in the win.
 
"Lincoln Memorial did a nice job clogging up the lane to make it difficult for us to consistently get the ball to Jess and Mariyah," Lewis head women's basketball coach Lisa Carlsen said. "We did a nice job competing on the glass tonight, which was the difference in the game."
 
In the up-tempo first half, both teams struggled to gain the upper hand. Lewis redshirt junior guard Angel Brooks (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) provided the spark off the bench, scoring five straight points, including a three-pointer, to give Lewis a four-point lead at 25-21 at the 5:14 mark.
 
The Flyers then went on a 14-9 run to close out the half as Itschner and Nellen both chipped in five points during the run. Lewis took a 39-30 lead into the locker room. 
 
Lincoln Memorial picked up the intensity in the second half, as they chipped away at Lewis' lead. The Railsplitters were able to get within two points at 46-44, on an Aisjah Roan lay-up at the 13:58 mark.
 
Lewis responded and quickly pushed the lead back up to nine points at 53-44, when Nellen led the run when she drained one of her three three-pointers of the night at the 12:20 mark.
 
As fouls became an issue for both squads late in the game, Lewis' lead ballooned to 16-points as Brawner-Henley completed a three-point play at the foul line to go up 72-56. In the second half, the Flyers went to the line 21 times, connecting on 17 attempts (.810), after shooting 6-of-13 (.462) from the charity stripe in the opening half.

The Railsplitters responded with a 7-0 run to get within nine points at 72-63 at 2:16, led by four points from Roan. Lewis shut the door on Lincoln Memorial to wrap up the 77-65 victory. 
 
Lincoln Memorial's offense was spearheaded by Roan's 25 points, six rebounds and three steals while MaRanda Boddie chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.   
 
The Flyers are off for two weeks before opening the Great Lakes Valley Conference slate on Friday, January 3^rd, when they host Truman State at Neil Carey Arena. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM.