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PDF Box ScoreQUINCY, Ill. – No. 2 Lewis women's basketball erased a five-point halftime deficit in the first two minutes of the second half to rally for an 88-72 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Quincy on Friday (Jan. 2) evening at Pepsi Arena.
Junior
Mariyah Brawner-Henley (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) scored 16 of her 25 points in the second half. She also added 11 points and three blocks in the game. Senior
Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) also had a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 15 rebounds. She grabbed 10 rebounds in the second half.
"We played with more of a sense of urgency," Lewis women's basketball head coach
Lisa Carlsen said of the difference between the first and second half. "We were better on the glass as well which made things easier on the offensive end."
The stats back up Carlsen's feelings on Lewis' rebounding. The Flyers were out-rebounded 25-19 in the first half but out-rebounded the Hawks 27-13 in the second half. All while Lewis limited Quincy to 31.0 percent (9-of-29) shooting in the final 20 minutes.
The Flyers trailed 45-40 at the break but quickly erased that deficit with seven points in the first two minutes of the second half to grab a 47-45 advantage. Johnson had five points in the run. While the Flyers would never trail again, it was a close contest until Lewis took over with a 15-2 run from the 13:28 mark to 9:48.
Junior
Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic) finished with 19 points. Senior
Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington) added 12 points off the bench. Senior
Kristin Itschner (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) hit double-digits with 10 points.
Lewis improves to 12-0 (2-0 GLVC). The Hawks fall to 5-5 (0-2 GLVC). Lewis returns to the court on Sunday (Jan. 4) at Truman State at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated Lewis in the GLVC Tournament last season.
Johnson and Brawner-Henley will enter Sunday's contest with a chance to make history. Johnson is 14 points short of 1,000 career points while her teammate is 25 points away from 1,000.