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Romeoville, Ill. – The Lewis women's basketball team clinched their first Great Lakes Valley East Division title since the 2006-07 season with a 64-60 victory over UW-Parkside on Thursday (Feb. 28) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
Lewis closed out the regular season with a 21-5 record and 14-4 record in the GLVC. UW-Parkside falls to 18-8 on the year and 12-6 in the conference.
 
Sophomore Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) led the Flyers with 16 points and nine rebounds while seniors Labrenthia Murdock (Round Lake, Ill./Round Lake) and Sam Rinehart (Marion, Iowa/Marion) chipped in 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
“Tonight was a dogfight for the whole 40 minutes,” Lewis head women's basketball coach Lisa Carlsen said. “UW-Parkside is a tough defensive team that is hard to keep off the glass.
 
“I thought we did a good job on the defensive end, which allowed us to get things going on offense.”
 
Lewis won the battle on the boards, pulling down 41 rebounds to UW-Parkside's 34. The Flyers' bench also out-scored the Rangers', 18 to 9.
 
In the first half, Lewis built a game-high 10-point lead at 29-19, tallied on a Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) made free throw at the 2:20 mark. Reinhart posted eight points while Murdock added five for the Flyers. 

After Lewis took a 29-23 lead into halftime, UW-Parkside went on a 15-6 run to take their first lead of the game, 37-35, on a Tara Knapstein lay-up at 13:52.
 
Lewis answered with a 7-0 run as Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington) hit a three-pointer while Rinehart and Murdock each scored a basket to help the Flyers retake the lead and go up 42-37.
 
The Rangers gained a 43-42 advantage on a Jenna Endisch three-pointer at the 9:27 mark. Grayer answered with a three-pointer of her own on the Flyers' next possession to go up 45-43.
 
Reinhart scored six points as the Flyers went on a 12-6 run to rebuild an eight-point lead, 57-49, with 3:40 to go in the game. 
 
UW-Parkside made a late surge to get within two points with 10 seconds left at 62-60, but Rinehart headed to the line and made both free throws to push the score to 64-60.
 
Danielle Slivka led the UW-Parkside offense with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Sierra West chipped in 15 points.
 
Seniors Hannah Koeneman (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan), Lauren Mead (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda), Rinehart and Murdock were honored prior to the start of the Flyers' last regular season home game.
 
“(The division title) is a great accomplishment,” Carlsen said. “I am proud of the team. They worked hard to get here.”
 
The top-seeded Flyers earned a first-round bye and wait to hear who their opponent is in the second-round of the 2013 Deaconess GLVC Tournament is on Friday (March 8) at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.