ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's women's basketball team held off Quincy for a 68-63 win on Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill. With the win the Flyers improve to 3-2 overall and GLVC while the Hawks fall to 0-5, 0-5 GLVC.
Lindsay Harrison (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) and
Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) finished with 13 points apiece to lead four Lewis players in double digits in scoring. The 13 points are a career-high for Harrison topping the 12 she scored 13 days ago against Quincy at Neil Carey Arena.
Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) added 12 points while
Jenna Badali (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) finished with 11 points. Schmidt also pulled down a team best six rebounds in the contest.
The Flyers opened the game on a 7-0 run, but the Hawks came right back with a 15-3 run of their own to take its largest lead at 15-10 on a three-pointer from Marta Rivera with 4:23 left in the opening quarter.
Lewis countered scoring seven of the next nine points and tied the game on a three-pointer from
Kaitlyn Williams (Homer Glen, Ill./Joliet Catholic) with 1:21 remaining in the frame.
Amanda Porth gave Quincy the lead back with a jumper but a jumper from
Zarrea Coleman (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) with 0:29 left in the stanza evened it at 19-all heading into the second quarter.
Both teams struggled to find its offense in the first five minutes of the second quarter as the teams combined for just six points in that span. The Hawks extended their lead to four on a layup from Porth with 3:22 left in the half.
Lewis got hot in the final three-plus minutes of the quarter scoring seven straight points including five straight from Harrison to take a 30-27 with 1:10 to play. However, the lead would be short lived as Aleksandra Petrovic hit two free throws and Emma Knipe scored on a layup to give Quincy a 31-30 lead at the intermission.
The two sides went back-and-forth during the third quarter as neither side led by more than three points during the frame. The Flyers trailed by three with less than two minutes to play in the stanza but hit four of six free throws to regain the lead at 53-52 heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Hawks retook the lead at 54-53 on a layup from Sarah Nelson less than a minute into the final quarter. Lewis retook the lead thanks to a 6-2 run and continued to lead 59-56 after a layup from
Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) with 6:31 to play.
Quincy tied the game at 59 on a three-pointer from Jazzpher Evans with 5:25 left in the contest.
The game remained tied until Schmidt scored on a layup on an assist from Badali with 1:43 left. Schmidt then recorded a steal on the ensuing possession and Hilber scored in a transition, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Flyers ahead 64-59 with 74 seconds remaining.
After another stop on the defensive end, Badali was fouled and hit two free throws as Lewis matched its largest lead of the game at seven points with 0:26 to go.
Laney Lentz hit two free throws to cut the lead to 66-61 with 0:24 left and the Hawks were forced to foul Badali who missed both free throws. The Hawks came right back down and got a quick jumper from Evans to cut the Flyer lead to three in the closing seconds.
Again, forced to foul Quincy fouled Harrison who went to the line and missed two more free throws to give the Hawks a chance to tie the game. Rivera had an open look from the right wing but her shot was off the mark and Schmidt got the rebound and passed it to Hilber who was fouled with 3.4 seconds left. Hilber hit both free throws to seal the win.
Lewis finished the contest shooting 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from the floor, was 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from three and shot 65.2 percent (15-for-23) at the foul line. It outrebounded Quincy 41-37 and outscored them 19-6 in fastbreak points.
The Flyers are back at home as they host McKendree on Friday (Dec. 18) at 3 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.
