The women of UIS put in a valiant effort to upset the number 15 ranked Lewis Flyers, but after forcing overtime they were outscored 11 to 6.

Alyssa Palmer, senior guard, and Megan Bergerud, senior guard/forward, led the charge as usual, with Palmer scoring 13 with a characteristically steady hand from the free-throw line. Bergerud dropping 12, but it was Carly Goede’s 12-point effort off the bench that was a big lift to the team. Goede averaged a point for every minute she was on the floor, 12 minutes, 12 points, and only missed once. Her only miss came from 3-pointer range, where she still made three of her four attempts.

Both teams shot the ball well, but it was the hot start and finish that led the Flyers over the Stars. The final percentages differed by only two percent, with the Stars shooting 46 percent and the Flyers 48 percent. The Flyers shot 64 percent in the first, dropped to 32 percent in the second, but finished with 50 percent in the overtime period. UIS shot 48 percent in the first and 46 percent in the second, but when overtime rolled around the team only managed 37 percent from the floor. It seemed as though it was a battle of solid team play for UIS against a more individually-focused Flyers team.

The Lewis starters played heavy minutes and accounted for a huge chunk of the team’s scoring totals, while the Stars rotated in bench players consistently, which contributed to their balanced attack. In the team stat sheet both squads were even in just about every category, but the bench for the Stars outscored the Flyers’ bench 36-7.

Having a bench that can contribute on that level is a bonus for any team, keeping starters fresh without worrying about bench production is huge. So when the game went into overtime, it seemed that UIS would have the advantage of having fresh legs out there. That just wasn’t the case, as the Lewis starters put in all 11 of their team’s overtime points.

The Flyers recorded eight blocks in the game, with six coming in the first half, their leading scorer was junior forward Jess Reinhart, who scored 23 points in 37 minutes.