ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's women's basketball team knocked off its second ranked opponent in three days as it upset fourth ranked Drury 87-79 on Thursday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Panthers and was the Flyers first win over Drury since Jan. 7, 2016 when the Panthers were ranked sixth in the country.
Lewis (11-12, 9-6 GLVC) opened the contest with seven straight points but the Panthers (24-4, 14-3 GLVC) came storming back to tie the game at 7-7 after a three-point play from Kaylee DaMitz.
Lily Courier (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and
Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) scored back-to-back buckets to put the Flyers back in front by four but Drury got baskets from Paige Robinson and Allie Clevenger to knot the score at 11 with four minutes to play in the opening quarter.
Lewis got hot over the next 2:20 as it went on a 10-2 run to build its largest lead of the quarter at 21-13 after an old fashioned three-point play from
Amelia Motz (Canton, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary). However, the Panthers scored six of the final eight points of the quarter to cut the Flyer lead to 23-19 at the quarter break.
Lewis opened the second stanza on an 20-6 run to build its largest lead of the contest at 43-25 with 3:10 remaining in the opening half. Drury was able to cut the Flyer advantage to 11 by halftime closing the half on a 9-2 run as Lewis turned the ball over four times in the final three minutes of the half.
Lewis knew no lead was safe as it led the Panthers by 19 early in the third quarter in the game in Springfield back on January 8 before losing 75-61. The Flyers held a double digit lead for nearly half of the third quarter but Drury cut the deficit to 53-50 with 3:10 to play in the quarter on a transition three from Payton Richards.
Lewis closed the quarter strong scoring nine of the final 16 points to extend its lead back to eight at the end of the frame.
The Panthers weren't going to quietly as they outscored the Flyers 13-7 over the first half of the final quarter to cut the Flyer lead to 69-67 after a layup from Robinson.
Hilber knocked down a big three from the right corner a couple of possessions later to extend the lead to five which sparked a 9-3 run to give Lewis an eight-point cushion after a driving layup from
Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West).
Drury wouldn't get closer than five points the rest of the contest as the Flyers closed the game out hitting nine of its 12 free throws over the final 71 seconds to secure the victory.
Hilber led the Flyers with 24 points while Courier added 23 and had a perfect shooting night going 9-for-9 from the floor, 1-of-1 from thee and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) finished with 14 points, Motz added 11 and Gugliuzza checked in with 10.
Lewis shot 59 percent (32-of-54) from the floor including 6-for-14 from three and shot 74 percent at the foul line. The Flyers outrebounded the Panthers 34-to-28.
Robinson led all scorers with 29 points but she was just 11-for-25 from the floor and only 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Damitz added 19 and Terrion Moore finished with 11. Moore also had seven rebounds to lead Drury.
The Panthers were held to 44 percent shooting (30-for-69) from the floor, were 3-of-21 from three but shot 89 percent at the foul line. They forced 19 Lewis turnovers and turned those into 24 points.
The Flyers continue their four-game homestand this Saturday (Feb. 19) hosting Southwest Baptist at 1 p.m. Lewis will honor its Motz, its lone senior, prior to the start of the contest.
