Jan. 8, 2005

CHICAGO - Turnovers cost the Lewis University women's basketball team as it was handed a 66-62 non-conference setback Saturday afternoon from Saint Xavier.

The Flyers (7-7) saw their record drop back to .500 after 27 turnovers--13 in the second half--allowed Saint Xavier (8-9) to come back from a 33-29 halftime deficit.

Saint Xavier, who plays pressure defense for most of the game, was held to 32.4 percent (24 of 74) shooting, but attempted 17 more shots than the Flyers (23 of 57, 40.4 percent).

Lewis led for most of the second half until SXU hit a 3-pointer with 4:49 left that gave the Cougars a 54-53 lead. Lewis answered with lay ups from Mary Moskal and Darcee Schmidt to regain the lead 57-54.

The Flyers would retain the lead until there was two minutes left in the game. SXU's Candis Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 left that put the Cougars up for good. Leading 59-57, SXU was able to complete their 9-0 and push the score to 63-57 with 38 seconds to play.

Shante Glenn buried a 3-pointer to trim the score to 63-60, and then followed a Cougar free throw with a lay up that brought Lewis within two with six seconds remaining. However, Jacki DiMaggio sank both of her free throws to seal the game for SXU.

Moskal led all scorers with 19 points. She added seven rebounds and three assists and was 9 of 11 from the free-throw line. Schmidt tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, while Glenn had 10 points, eight rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Lewis returns to conference play on Thursday, Jan. 13 when it hosts Great Lakes Valley Conference-leading Quincy (8-5, 5-1) at 5:30 p.m.