ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lewis University women's basketball team battled back from a 17-point deficit, but came up short 80-79 Saturday (Nov. 27) in a nonconference game against Wisconsin Parkside at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers fall to 1-5 on the season with Parkside improving to 3-2.
 
The Flyers opened the scoring with a Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) three-pointer, but the Rangers came back with seven straight points to take a 7-3 lead. After Lewis tied the score at 11-11, Parkside scored eight straight points to grab a 19-11 lead with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
 
Lewis responded with the final 12 points of the quarter. Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) had six points in the run on a three-pointer and a three-point play, while Amelia Motz (Canton, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary) added four points.
 
Parkside went on a 10-0 run early in the second quarter to move in front 34-27 with five minutes left in the half. A Lily Courier (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) layup stopped the run momentarily, but the Rangers tallied five more points to make it a 15-2 run and they held a 42-31 lead at the half.
 
The Flyers scored the first four points of the third quarter to make it 42-35, but the Rangers responded with a 14-4 run to take the biggest lead of the game of 56-39 with 4:09 left in the third quarter. Lewis rallied late in the period with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to eight before a layup put Parkside up 10 points at 63-53 after three quarters.
 
After scoring the last two baskets of the third for the Flyers, Schmidt opened the fourth quarter with the first six points for the Flyers and that was followed with a basket from Courier for an 8-0 run to make it a 63-61 Parkside lead with 8:09 remaining in the game.
 
Parkside scored the next six points over the ensuing three minutes to regain an eight-point advantage. The Flyers would make it a one-possession game again at the 1:39 mark on a layup by Hilber, making it a 74-72 Ranger lead.
 
A Parkside three-pointer the following possession was answered by a pair of Schmidt free throws with 58 seconds left to make it 77-75. The Rangers missed a jumper on the ensuing possession, but got the offensive rebounding, forcing a sequence of fouls. They eventually made one free throw and Courier was fouled on the other end, where she made both foul shots, cutting the deficit to one point at 78-77 with 12 seconds left.
 
Parkside made a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to regain a three-point lead and the Flyers could only get a layup at the buzzer, leaving them a point short.
 
Schmidt led the way with 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Flyers, while Courier had 18 points and Hilber scored 13. Motz contributed eight rebounds, while Stephanie Hart (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) had six assists.
 
The Flyers shot 24-of-63 (38.1 percent) for the game from the floor, but shot 27-of-30 (90 percent) from the free throw line. Parkside hit 32-of-64 (50 percent) from the field. Lewis held a 41-35 rebounding edge.
 
Lewis opens its Great Lakes Valley Conference season Thursday (Dec. 2) when it hosts Indianapolis at 5:30 p.m.