ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Sophomore forward Lily Courier (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting in Lewis' 78-57 win over Purdue Northwest on Tuesday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 1-4 on the season and gave head coach Matt Nelson his first career win. The Pride drop to 2-2.

Lewis trailed for the first four minutes of the contest before taking a 7-6 lead on a three-pointer by Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central). Purdue Northwest tied it on the ensuing possession hitting one-of-two foul shots but the Flyers quickly regained the lead on a jumper by Kae Barth-Lofton (St. Paul, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy). The Pride clawed back to within 13-12 on a three-pointer before Lewis closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 10-point cushion into the second quarter.

PNW outscored Lewis 13-6 over the first 4:35 of the second quarter to get within 28-25 after a three-pointer Elexah Roepke. The Flyers closed the half strong with a 13-2 run as Courier had eight points in the run while Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) added five more to take a 41-27 lead into halftime.

Lewis stretched its lead to 19 points in the third quarter as it outscored the Pride 18-16 while shooting 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from the field. Courier, Schmidt and Shawnton Brown (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Central) had four points each in the quarter while Barth-Lofton, Hilber and Zarrea Coleman (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) added two points each.

The Flyers opened the final stanza scoring 12 of the first 16 points to stretch its lead to its largest of the game at 73-47 with 4:30 remaining after Lauren Ramsey (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) hit one-of-two free throws. Lewis cruised to the victory down the stretch.

10 Flyers scored in the contest with four of them reaching double figures led by Courier while Stephanie Hart (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) added 13 points and Hilber and Schmidt finished with 12 points apiece. Lewis shot 47 percent (27-for-58) from the field, was 6-of-11 from three but shot only 60 percent at the line. It forced 30 turnovers resulting in 28 points and outscored Purdue Northwest 38-26 in the paint and 9-4 in second chance points.

Roepke and Dash Shaw led the Pride with 12 points apiece off the bench. PNW shot 40.4 percent (19-for-47) from the field, was 3-of-13 from three and shot 67 percent at the charity stripe. They outrebounded the Flyers 34-32 in the contest.

The Flyers continue their homestand on Saturday afternoon taking on Parkside at 1 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.