Undefeated Lewis University Women's BBall Team Tearing Up Division II
(CBS) The Lewis University women's basketball team is in the midst of a history-making season. The Flyers are tearing up the Division-II ranks and even some tougher competition.
As CBS 2's Megan Mawicke reports, the Flyers are flying high.
Lewis has had success the last few years, but nothing like this. The Flyers are undefeated at 17-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.
"It's more pride than anything," coach Lisa Carlsen said. "This is a team that has had a lot of success the last couple of years, so they are used to having the bull's-eye on their back."
"There's definitely a lot of pressure, but we take pride in it," added forward Mariyah Brawner-Henley. "We are not going to step on the court and be afraid that we are going to be beat."
The Flyers are the first Division-II school to knock off three Division-I teams in the preseason. That was a confidence booster. Now the Flyers boast the highest-scoring offense in the country, averaging 85 points a game.
"A lot of it is just rebounding and transition," guard Jamie Johnson said. "We love to run and when you can get layups, it's easy to score a lot of buckets."
"We don't have a lot of superstars, but we have a lot of kids who can do a lot of things and that is the key to our success," Carlsen added.
Four of the five starters live together. That's a feat in itself. This close-knit bunch says the chemistry carries over to the court and is a big reason for their success.
"We love each other," Brawner-Henley. "We're like a big family."
"We just have a connection," Johnson added. "We just know where everybody is going to be at different points. It's nice to not have any drama, we really don't have any drama. We all just get along great."
Lewis has been to the NCAA Tournament nine times but never made it out of regionals.
"Really, our ultimate goal is to win a national championship," Carlsen said. "To say we're not thinking about that is not correct. When we sat down at beginning of year we thought this team could do something special, if we stay healthy I feel like we still got that chance."