Turpel keeps D-II Flyers soaring
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Lewis University's women's basketball practices used to include plenty of long faces.
Over the past month, Johnsburg graduate Jenny Turpel has been part of a turnaround that has given the Flyers plenty to smile about.
"It's been great," Turpel said. "We just didn't have a very good start."
The Flyers began the season 6-7 and regularly received encouraging talks from head coach Lisa Carlsen, "especially after a loss," Turpel said.
Thanks to strong play from Turpel, a junior forward, the Flyers (14-10) have won eight of their last 11 games to move into second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's North Division.
"We knew we had it in us," said Turpel, who leads the team with 17.2 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. "We just didn't let (the slow start) affect us too much."
On Monday, Turpel was named the GLVC Player of the Week after enjoying the biggest game of her career.
Turpel posted career highs of 37 points and 17 rebounds Feb. 4 against Saint Joseph's (Ind.). Turpel also had a team-high 24 points Thursday in a 72-69 loss at Wisconsin-Parkside, which snapped Lewis' four-game winning streak.
In the past three games, Turpel has averaged 26 points and 10.3 rebounds. Those numbers, however, don't mean as much to Turpel as helping her team win.
"It doesn't matter at all unless we're getting the wins," Turpel said. "Lately, I've had a lot of success with the inside game."
Lewis' hot streak has put the team one game behind Parkside in the North Division with a 10-5 league record. The top four teams in each of the GLVC's three divisions make the league's conference tournament.
"We just want to put ourselves in the best position possible," Turpel said.
Leading off strong: Cary-Grove grad Sarah Waylock was honored Wednesday as the season's first softball player of the week by Conference Carolinas.
Waylock, a junior third baseman at D-II Pfeiffer University in North Carolina, went 5-for-7 in the opening week of the season while batting fourth in the Falcons' lineup.
Through her team's first six games, Waylock is hiting .438 with a team-high four RBIs. She also has a .526 on-base percentage.
Waylock went 2-for-4 and started the game-winning rally Feb. 6 in Pfeiffer's 4-3 win against then-No. 14 Kutztown University.
Waylock also is writing a blog this season at www.GoFalconSports.com.
One fine Falcon: Air Force sophomore hockey defenseman Scott Mathis has helped the Falcons (12-12-6) to second place in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings this season.
Mathis, a Prairie Ridge grad, has a goal and 10 assists this season while playing in all 30 games.
The Facons are 12-6-6 in league play.
Barry Bottino writes a weekly column and a blog about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at BarryOnCampus@hotmail.com and check out his On Campus column every Saturday in the Northwest Herald sports section.
