Liewen's 23 sparks win over Bulldogs

Two early fouls cost Brookfield Central forward Anna Liewen the entire second quarter against West Allis Central on Friday night.

But the senior avoided the whistles after the break and tied a career high with 23 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead the Lancers to a 59-46 win over the visiting Bulldogs.

"I don't love that she is getting two fouls in the first half of every game," Central coach Dan Wandrey said. "But she's so active and makes good plays because of that aggressiveness and activity, it's going to happen."

Hot in second half

Liewen scored the Lancers' first eight points of the third quarter and capped a 12-3 run with two free throws that put Central (2-4, 1-2) up 41-32.

She also converted a three-point play late in the game to give Central its first double-digit lead at 51-41 and essentially seal the team's first Greater Metro Conference win of the season.

"Anna is a strong player and she had a good game tonight," Bulldogs coach Trudy Wahlen said. "We expect that from her."

West Allis Central (1-5, 1-2) countered with its own star in forward Mehryn Kraker, who scored 23 points and kept the Bulldogs in the game.

But Wahlen said fouls and turnovers proved to be too much to overcome.

After only four in the first half, the Bulldogs committed nine second-half turnovers and had two starters - Claire Hankins and Sierra Brown - foul out late in the game.

"Hankins is a scorer for us, so with her not in there, Mehryn had to take charge on her own," Wahlen said. "Offensively, I don't think we ever got into a flow."

Early lead for Lancers

That wasn't the case for the Lancers early on as the team jumped out to an 11-3 lead on the strength of six first-quarter points from Liewen.

But two fouls, including one in the closing seconds of the opening quarter confined the forward to role of spectator for the next eight minutes of the game.

"I have to work on not fouling," Liewen said, "especially twice in the first quarter and then I'm out for the rest of the half."

In Liewen's absence, junior Sarah Fotsch scored six second-quarter points, and finished with 11 points, to build a 22-16 lead, but the Bulldogs would rally into halftime.

In the final minute, Kraker sank a 3-pointer from five feet behind the three point line at the top of the key and she then drew a shooting foul at half court as time expired.

The call prompted Wandrey to storm off the court to the locker room before Kraker sank two of three free throws put WAC up 26-25 at the break.

Wandrey said he contemplated bringing Liewen back late in the half, but didn't want to risk her picking up a third foul.

"The end of the half was so frustrating," Wandrey said. "But it seemed like we built up that cushion so we could kind of be without her (Liewen). Then all of the sudden we're down."

No defense inside

But the Bulldogs' lead at the break would ultimately be their last of the game.

A Liewen layup to open the third quarter put the Lancers ahead for good as the team would pound the ball in the paint with success in the second half.

"What we said at halftime is, they can't guard Anna inside," Wandrey said. "I don't know if we knew it would be that good. But she was really good today."

The win came at the right time for the Lancers, who have gotten off to a slow start in the conference this season after winning the last four Greater Metro titles.

Wandrey said the team is still finding its identity on the court, but he acknowledged that its success rides on the Liewen's shoulders.

"This is a really big win for us because we came into this game looking for our first actual win," Liewen said. "Having it be against West Allis Central, who we were always neck and neck with last year, this is just going to keep us rolling."

For the Bulldogs, who finished second in the Greater Metro last year, Wahlen said the loss is a temporary setback.

"We're still trying to get everyone to know what their role is," she said. "But we should be able to pull through. I have faith in them."