BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS – After a thrilling overtime victory over No. 4 seed Missouri S&T in the first round of the GLVC Women’s Basketball Tournament, the No. 6 seed Lewis Flyers continued their assault on the league’s top seeds by knocking off No. 3 seed Drury, 62-55, in second round action at Moloney Arena on Friday night.
With the victory, Lewis (13-15) will attempt to continue knocking off the league’s elite in Saturday’s first semifinal against No. 2 seed Wisconsin-Parkside.
Against the Panthers (19-9), Lewis shot 43.8 percent from the field while limiting its opponent to just 33.3 percent shooting and holding GLVC Freshman of the Year Bethanie Funderburk to just eight points on 3-of-13 from the field.
The Flyers buried 11-of-17 attempts from the three-point line and became just the fourth team in tournament history to go perfect from the free throw line (9-9).
After building a 28-27 halftime lead, Jenny Turpel hit a jumper and Labrenthia Murdock canned a three-pointer to lift the Flyers to a 33-27 advantage. It was a lead the Flyers would not surrender.
Turpel, Kelly Monaco and Kady Currin tied for game-high honors with 12 points, while Murdock posted 10 points for the Flyers.
Lewis survived a see-saw first half to take a 28-27 lead at the break. Behind three three-pointers from Monaco, the Flyers shot 66.7 percent from the three point line in the half (8-12). Monaco finished the game 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
Drury managed to convert just 31 percent of their attempts in the first half but forced Lewis into 11 turnovers and held a slim rebounding margin. They finished the game with a 35-32 rebounding edge.
Senior first-team All-GLVC selection Ja’Nell Jones led the Panthers with a game-high 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Erica Groose contributed a double-double for Drury with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Lewis will face UW-Parkside in Saturday’s first women’s semifinal at 6 p.m.