Upper Iowa's women's basketball team kicked off their home schedule in Dorman Gym tonight playing host to the #2 Flyers of Lewis University. The visitors wasted little time showing the form that brought the team into the NCAA Division II Elite Eight a year ago with 31 wins. The Flyers used a combination of transition and unselfish passing in a high-low game to control the contest and win 90-57. The win sees Lewis improve to 3-0 on the season, while Upper Iowa falls to 0-3.
Prior to the starting lineups, the Peacocks honored
Whitney Kieffer with the game ball from last Saturday's contest. Kieffer scored 29 points and in doing so became the all-time leader in points at Upper Iowa passing UIU Athletics Hall of Famer Vicky (Ringenberg) Rarick. On hand to present the ball was fellow Hall of Famer Jamie Van Erem. After the game with Lewis, Kieffer now has 1,456 points in her career.
Jamie Johnson was on fire in the first half scoring 24 points for the Flyers and she got a lot of help from the two post players as well. Both Jessica Kelliher and Mariyah Brawner-Henley had big first halves as Lewis jumped out to a 52-31 lead at the break. The Flyers had a monsterous first quarter on the offensive end scoring 29 points to take a 16-point advantage. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Lewis in the second quarter though. Upper Iowa hit three straight three-pointers out of the hands of
Aleesha Cleaver,
Blake Bergren and
Brooklyn Schamens. The final three by Schamens with 6:25 to play in the quarter pulled Upper Iowa within nine points, 36-27, but the home team would not get closer. Lewis closed the final six minutes of the half by outscoring the Peacocks 16-4; all four points came at the free throw line for UIU.
In the third quarter, the Peacocks continued to struggle offensively scoring only 8 points in the ten-minute period. UIU, who only turned the ball over 6 times in the first half, gave it away 5 times in the third quarter alone. After 30 minutes of action, Lewis took a 74-39 lead into the final quarter. The home team's offense began to produce in the fourth quarter and the defense continued to work and try to limit the Flyers' opportunities. The Peacocks outscored their guests 18-16 in the final frame.
Lewis owned the paint scoring 50 points including 22 in transition. The Flyers were led by Johnson, who scored 31 and handed out 4 assists. Kelliher added 14 points and 7 rebounds, while Brawner-Henley chipped in 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Kayla Brewer came off the bench to score 11 and set up 4 scores.
Schamens and Cleaver led the Peacocks with 14 points and 3 assists apiece. The pair comined to hit 8 of the 15 shots inlcuding 5 from behind the arc. Bergren and Kieffer both added 9 points, while Pagel netted 7 and led the team on the glass with 9 boards.
Upper Iowa will return to Prochaska Court in Dorman Gym on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Peacocks will take on the Tritons of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. If fans can't make it to the game, they can watch a webcast, follow live stats or tune into KCRG-TV 9.2 for the live broadcast covering the eastern half of the state of Iowa.
