Box Score
The Peacocks took the floor in Romeoville, Illinois for their season opener against the Flyers of Lewis tonight. Upper Iowa outscored Lewis in the second half, but a 17-2 midway through the first half proved to be too much of a hole to dig out of. UIU lost the season opener 70-58.
Cassandra Deiters and Heidi McKean, former teammates at Parkview College, teamed up to lead the Peacocks on the night; the pair combined for 32 points. Deiters logged 34 minutes and scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting; the Peacock center also grabbed 7 rebounds and snared 4 steals. McKean added 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting and pulled in 6 boards of her own.
Upper Iowa fell behind in the early minutes, but rallied back to take an 11-8 lead fueled by an 8-0 run. Lewis settled down after a timeout and began to take control of the first half. The Flyers used a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 25-13 lead. The home team pushed their lead to 15 points, 41-26, by halftime thanks to a three-pointer right before the clock showed zeros.
The Flyers increased the gap to 21 points, 52-31, five minutes into the second half, but the visitors were able to cut the margin to twelve, 54-42, thanks to an 11-2 run featuring 6 points from Deiters and 5 more from McKean. An old-fashioned three-point play by Jen Herrick, brought the Peacocks within nine, 58-49, with five and a half minutes to play, but the team would not get any closer. Lewis claimed the win thanks to a 70-58 final count.
Both teams hit 21 field goals in the game, but the Flyers made 6 of 17 from behind the arc, while the Peacocks only made 1 of 15 from deep. Lewis also held an advantage of seven made free throws.
The Peacocks have a short week to get ready for their next two games this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20. Upper Iowa will play Quincy in the first game of the QU Tipoff Classic in Quincy, Ill. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. Saturday’s contest will either be the championship or consolation game and the opponent will also be determined Friday evening.
