ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - It was good to be back home for the Lewis University women's basketball team. After a five game road trip, the Flyers returned home for the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener and defeated Illinois Springfield 75-66 Tuesday (Dec. 3) at Neil Carey Arena. Lewis moves to 4-3 overall (1-0 GLVC), while UIS falls to 4-3 (0-1 in GLVC).

The Flyers never trailed in the game and after the Prairie Stars tied the game at 2-2 on a pair of free throws, the Flyers took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Kaitlyn Williams (Homer Glen, Ill./Joliet Catholic) at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter. Jumpers by Williams and Reilly Olmstead (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) advanced the lead to 9-2 before UIS scored its first basket from the field more than halfway through the first quarter.

Lewis though came back with a three-pointer by Olmstead and baskets by Dajae Black (Chicago, Ill./Marist) and Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) to take a 16-4 lead. Illinois Springfield battled back to make it a 16-11 score after one quarter.

UIS opened the scoring in the second quarter to get within three points before the Flyers answered with a 7-0 run to regain a double digit advantage at 23-13. The Prairie Stars slowly crept back to within four points at 28-24, but Lewis extended the lead to nine on an Olmstead trifecta before settling for a 33-26 lead at the half.

The Flyers were able to take command of the game in the third quarter as a 19-8 run to open the third quarter gave the Flyers a 52-34 lead midway through the third. Lewis maintained its double digit lead at the end of the quarter, leading 57-44.

The Prairie Stars got to within seven points on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter, including at 68-61 with 3:35 left, but a 7-0 Flyer run ignited by a conventional three-point play by Morgan Glatczak (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) put the game away.

Olmstead finished with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while Rachel Hinders (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) added 10 points and Glatczak had seven points, nine rebounds and eight blocks.

Lewis shot 29-of-51 (56.9 percent) from the floor, while UIS was just 24 for 64 (37.5 percent). Lewis won the rebounding battle 35-26.

The Flyers are back in action Dec. 12 when it travels to Joliet to take on St. Francis at 5 p.m.