FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock women's basketball (14-13, 10-9 GLVC) wraps up the regular season against Lewis (Ill.) (16-10, 12-6 GLVC) on Saturday in Romeoville, Illinois. With a win, the Peacocks will clinch a spot in the GLVC Tournament and tie for the most wins in a season under head coach Justin Maass. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Neil Carey Arena.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live stats and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
LAST TIME OUT
The Peacocks went 1-1 last week, losing to McKendree (Ill.) (16-8, 13-5 GLVC) but picking up a crucial win against Illinois Springfield (12-14, 9-9 GLVC). Graduate Ellie Foster led UIU, averaging 24 points while shooting 61.5% from the field and 71.4% from behind the arc.
Foster scored 20 points with five made 3-pointers in the 73-60 loss to McKendree. The Bearcats used a 19-4 second-half run to build a 13-point advantage, helping them win the game.
After trailing 57-49 with 2:47 left in the third quarter against UIS, the Peacocks went on an 11-0 run to take the lead. Ava Privet solidified that lead with a pair of 3-pointers, helping the Peacocks get the 76-70 win.
Foster scored a career-high 28 points in the victory. It marked her sixth game with 20 or more points this season. Privet added 20 points, Kendyl Lodermeier scored 19 points and Bryar Duwe totaled nine points with a team-high nine rebounds.
The Peacocks entered the game in ninth in the GLVC Point Rating System. After the win, UIU jumped to seventh with a rating of 3.24.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
With the back-to-back 20+ point games, Foster bumped her points per game average up to 14.6. She is tied for sixth in the GLVC in overall points per game. In conference play, she is averaging 15.1 points per game, ranking sixth as well.
Foster adds four rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. She is shooting 43.7% from the field and 41% from behind the arc. She ranks third in the GLVC in 3-point percentage, 15th in field goal percentage and leads the league in total 3-pointers made with 75. The Dike native ranks seventh nationally in total 3-pointers made, and is eighth nationally in 3-point percentage.
Privet is adding 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. She ranks 15th in the GLVC in points per game. In conference play only, she is averaging 13.6 points per game, ranking 13th.
The junior is shooting 40.8% from the field, 37.7% from three and 93.2% from the free-throw line. She leads the conference in free-throw percentage and is fifth in 3-point percentage.
Lodermeier averages 11.5 points per game and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. She's 22nd in the GLVC in scoring and 14th in rebounding. In GLVC play, the freshman is averaging 12.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, ranking 18th and sixth, respectively.
Duwe is scoring 8.5 points per game with 4.8 rebounds per game. She's tied for 24th in rebounds per game in the GLVC. Sydnee Nelson is scoring 5.7 points per game with 4.4 rebounds per game and a team-high 3.9 assists per game. She's third in the GLVC in assists and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5).
In conference play only, Nelson is tied for first in assists with 4.4 per game. The junior ranks fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 1.8. She ranks 19th in rebounding, averaging 5.2 per game.
Overall, the Peacocks are eighth in scoring offense (65.8 points per game) and 11th in scoring defense (67.1 points per game). UIU is shooting 34.7% from behind the arc and 75.5% from the charity stripe as a team, both ranking third in the GLVC.
AROUND THE GLVC
With wins over Truman State (Mo.) (15-11, 12-6 GLVC) and William Jewell (Mo.) (1-23, 1-17 GLVC) this past weekend, No. 20 Missouri-St. Louis (22-3, 18-1 GLVC) won the regular season GLVC title with a 4.68 rating. The Tritons finished a perfect 10-0 at home in conference play and have won six straight games. UMSL is ranked No. 20 in this week's WBCA poll with 147 votes, moving up four spots from last week.
Drury (Mo.) (19-6, 16-2 GLVC) is second in the GLVC with a 4.22 rating. The Panthers have won a conference-best 10 straight games. Maryville (Mo.) (21-6, 15-4 GLVC) at 4.18, McKendree at 3.89 and Lewis at 3.72 have all clinched a spot in the GLVC Tournament.
Truman State is in sixth at 3.56, Upper Iowa is in seventh at 3.24 and Quincy (Ill.) (13-12, 10-8 GLVC) is in eighth at 3.22. Illinois Springfield enters the weekend on the outside in ninth with a 3.08 rating, but still has a chance to make the tournament.
Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville appeared in this week's regional rankings. UMSL is currently in the NCAA Tournament at No. 7, and Maryville has some work to do at No. 10. Reigning national champions No. 2 Grand Valley State (24-1) is the top team in the Midwest Region.
ABOUT THE FLYERS - Saturday at 1 p.m.
Lewis fell to Illinois Springfield, 59-56, last week before picking up a 63-56 win over UIndy (5-21, 4-14 GLVC). The Flyers have split in GLVC play for the last four weekends, going 4-4 since Jan. 29. Lewis plays Quincy on Thursday before Saturday's Senior Day matchup with the Peacocks.
UIU lost the first matchup this season to Lewis on Jan. 10 in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. The Peacocks shot 32.1% from the field and were outscored 32-17 in the first half in the 65-53 loss. The Peacocks were outscored 15-6 in the second quarter.
Foster scored 20 points with eight rebounds to lead the Peaoccks. Lodermeier added 10 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Ally Cesarini led Lewis with a season-high 25 points. Mallory Ramage had 20 points and Kree Nunnally had 10.
Ramage, a redshirt junior guard, leads Lewis by averaging 14.1 points per game. She scored 22 points against UIndy, marking her seventh game this season with 20 or more points. Ramage is the ninth leading scorer in the GLVC.
Sophomore Yahaira Bueno is adding 12.2 points per game and a team-high 4.0 assists per game. She is second in the GLVC in assists. Cesarini is adding 11.4 points per game and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game. The junior is tied for 11th in the GLVC in rebounding. At 5-foot-11, Nunally adds 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Lewis scores 65.8 points per game, ranking ninth in the GLVC. The Flyers boast the third-best scoring defense in the conference, giving up 58.4 points per game. Lewis ranks fourth in turnover margin at +2.31, third in blocked shots, averaging 3.54 per game and fifth in steals, averaging 9.31 per game.
Head coach Dodie Duson Jr. is in his first season with Lewis. Dunson brings 14 years of collegiate coaching experience across six NCAA Division I programs, previously coaching at Illinois-Chicago in 2022-23 and Tulsa in 2021-22.
