KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Lewis University women's basketball team picked up its third straight win Thursday (Feb. 10), defeating Rockhurst 76-68 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Mason-Halpin Field House. The Flyers move to 8-12 overall, 6-6 in the GLVC, while the Hawks fall to 11-10 overall, 7-8 in the GLVC.
The Flyers opened the game with a pair of three-pointers from
Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) and
Lily Courier (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) for a quick 6-0 lead. Rockhurst then came back to take a 9-7 advantage. The Hawks built their lead to as many as four points at 18-14 before a
Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) three-pointer made it 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Free throws by
Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) and a jumper by
Amelia Motz (Canton, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) made it a 7-0 Lewis run and put it in front 21-18. The two teams traded leads with Rockhurst pulling ahead 30-27 with 4:34 remaining in the half.
Courier then scored seven straight points to put the Flyers back in front 34-30. After a three-point play from the Hawks, eight more in a row from the Flyers gave them a 42-33 lead before a three-pointer before the buzzer made it 42-36 at the half.
Rockhurst used that momentum to open the third quarter as it scored the first seven points of the second half to pull back in front 43-42. The two teams again traded baskets the remainder of the period with Gugliuzza beating the buzzer on a three-pointer to give the Flyers a 53-51 lead heading ino the fourth quarter.
Holding onto a 60-58 lead early in the fourth quarter, Lewis went on an 8-0 run over two minutes to take a 68-58 lead with 5:13 remaining as Hilber scored six points in the run. Rockhurst ended the run with a three-pointer to get within seven points, but would get no closer the rest of the game.
Courier led the way with 17 points for the Flyers, while Gugliuzza had 16, Hilber had 15 and Schmidt tallied 12. The Flyers shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the floor, while Rockhurst was 37 percent (27-of-73). Rockhurst held a 42-36 rebounding edge.
Lewis will look to continue its winning streak Saturday (Feb. 12) at William Jewell. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
