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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – No. 1 Lewis women's basketball took little time in topping Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Illinois-Springfield on Saturday (Jan. 17) afternoon at Neil Carey Arena 101-82. The win moves Lewis to 17-0 and 7-0 in the GLVC, it is Lewis' first ever 7-0 start in conference play in program history.
 
The Flyers took their first double-digit lead of the game at 19-9 on a free throw by senior Jess Reinhart (Normal, Ill./Bloomington Central Catholic) less than six minutes into the game. By the 8:08 mark the Flyers earned their first 20-point lead of the contest at 41-21 on a pair of free throws by senior Jamie Johnson (South Holland, Ill./Marian Catholic). The Flyers built a halftime lead of 64-35 and never looked back. The 64 points in the opening half are the most in a half by Lewis this season.
 
"The last couple games we haven't had the start I would have liked," Lewis head coach Lisa Carlsen today. "Today we started with energy and were able to get some rebounds that turned into points on the other end and helped us build a lead."
 
Lewis finished the contest with a season-high 26 fast break points. The Flyers earned 25 assists on their 41 baskets. Senior Nikki Nellen (New Berlin, Wis./Pius XI) tied her career high with 10 assists. Johnson totaled five assists to go with her game-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Junior Mariyah Brawner-Henley (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds. The duo represented two of five Flyers in double-digits. Reinhart finished with 16 points. Senior Alexus Grayer (Washington, Ill./Washington) had 13 points and senior Kristin Itschner (Metamora, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) pitched in 10 points.

The Flyers committed just six turnovers in the contest, the fewest since committing six on Feb. 6, 2012 at Indianapolis.
 
Saturday was the second game this season Lewis has hit 100 points. They also scored 101 against Upper Iowa on Nov. 22.

The Flyers shot 53.9 percent but allowed UIS to shoot 53.0 percent, the first time an opponent has shot better than 50 percent against Lewis this year.
 
The win coupled with Drury's loss to William Jewell on Saturday means Lewis is the only team in the conference undefeated in GLVC play. UIS falls to 5-9 (1-5 GLVC). The Flyers hit the road on Thursday (Jan. 22) for a GLVC contest at Bellarmine. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. ET.