March 3, 2007

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The importance of senior leadership on a team never should be underestimated, especially during postseason play.

The performances turned in by four Lewis women's basketball seniors Saturday night in a Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship semifinal game added validity to that statement.

Lewis, trailing by 8 points with 8:13 to play, outscored Bellarmine 20-6 down the stretch and came away with a 66-60 triumph that put the Flyers in the GLVC tournament title game for the first time in program history.

The 9th-ranked Flyers (26-3), who added to their school-record victory total with a seventh consecutive win, will face Drury - a 68-57 semifinal winner over Northern Kentucky - Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Coverage begins at 3:15 on www.LewisFlyers.com.

Lewis, the No. 1 tournament seed from the GLVC East Division, beat Drury, the No. 1 West Division seed, 76-64 in the teams' regular-season meeting on Nov. 30.

Senior Erin Cox was Lewis' primary first-half weapon. Cox scored 16 of her game-high and personal season-high 20 points in the opening stanza to lead the Flyers to a 31-28 halftime edge.

Following three ties and five lead changes in the early stages of the second half, Bellarmine (19-10) assembled a 12-2 run that gave the Knights a 52-43 advantage with 10:17 remaining.

Enter Mary Moskal, senior.

Moskal, Lewis' two-time All-GLVC first-team whiz kid, buried a trey to cut the Bellarmine lead to 52-46. That bucket was part of her second-half 15-point total that included 12 points over the final 10:09.

Bellarmine responded with a basket and, following a Lewis turnover, had the ball with a chance to stretch its lead into double figures.

Enter Darcee Schmidt, senior.

The Knights never had a chance to gain that double-digit cushion because Schmidt, the GLVC Player of the Year, made one of her three steals on that next Bellarmine possession.

Seconds later, Jennifer Green hit a 3-pointer from the left baseline that ignited the Flyers' game-winning 20-6 surge. Schmidt followed with a basket in the paint, and two Moskal free throws brought Lewis to within a point at 54-53.

A short jumper by Ashley Lewallen, who led Bellarmine with 19 points and 6 rebounds, momentarily stopped the bleeding for the Knights. But when Moskal scored Lewis' next five points on two free throws and a conventional 3-point play, the Flyers were on top for good, 58-56, with 5:04 to play.

However, the outcome was not decided until the final minute.

With Lewis leading 64-60, Moskal missed a shot but gathered the rebound to give the Flyers a fresh shot clock with 54 seconds left. Her 13-foot jumper 28 seconds later found the mark, and Lewis was assured of a chance to win the GLVC crown for the first time since 1985.

Schmidt finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Brittney Diener - you guessed it, a senior - grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds and added 4 assists and 3 steals, while Green collected 8 points and 4 assists.

Dana Beaven and Taylor Kopple scored 17 and 11 points, respectively, for Bellarmine, which lost to Lewis for a third time this season.