ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — Lewis went on a 12-2 run inside the final two minutes in rallying to defeat the Bellarmine University women's basketball team 77-71 on Saturday in Neil Carey Arena in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Junior guard
Breia Torrens nailed five 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 17 points for Bellarmine (11-8, 6-6 GLVC), which led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter. Senior guard
Mikayla Berry added 16 points, four rebounds and three steals against Lewis (13-7, 10-2), junior guard
Tasia Jeffries chipped in 10 points and senior forward
Mallory Schwartz grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists.
After trailing 36-31 at halftime, Bellarmine began the third quarter with a pair of fast-break baskets as Berry scored the first and found sophomore forward
Alisha Owens for another. Jeffries sank a 3-pointer to put the Knights in front and sophomore guard
Kathleen Scott followed with another trifecta. Junior forward
Lauren Deel closed the period with four straight points as the Knights outscored the Flyers 25-15 in the frame to take a 56-51 lead.
Bellarmine's advantage grew to 63-55 with less than eight minutes left in the fourth on a Torrens' 3-pointer, and the Knights were up 69-65 with 1:29 remaining after a Deel save while flying out of bounds fortuitously found Schwartz near the basket for an easy layup.
Lewis is the top free-throw shooting team in the GLVC, hitting at just over 80 percent, and the charity stripe played a key role down the stretch. Rachel Hinders sank a pair and, after Bellarmine missed a 3-pointer, the Flyers' Kaitlyn Williams canned a trifecta for a 70-69 lead with 52 seconds left.
Bellarmine turned the ball over the next possession, and Katie Gardner made two free throws for a three-point lead with 38 seconds left. After play had resumed following a Knights timeout, the officials stopped play due to a clock error, which caused a fairly lengthy delay to sort out.
When action picked back up, Bellarmine missed a tying 3-point attempt. Lewis' Morgan Glatczak hit the second of two free throws for a 73-69 lead with 19 seconds left. The Knights missed on their following possession and Lewis rebounded to effectively seal the game.
Gardner scored a game-high 27 points and had 11 rebounds for Lewis. Hinders, the GLVC's top free-throw shooter, made 15 of her 16 attempts from the charity stripe in scoring 19 points. The Flyers hit 26-of-31 free throws for the game, including 14 of 16 in the fourth quarter. Bellarmine was 12 of 18 from the line.
Bellarmine remains on the road. The Knights will play at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday at William Jewell.
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