ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- Lewis University's women's basketball team lost to William Jewell, 95-77 on Thursday (Feb. 11) evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers slip to 10-7 overall and in the GLVC while the Cardinals improve to 8-9 overall and in the conference.
 
Lewis opened the scoring with a pair from the line by Jenna Badali (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) and a free throw from Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central). Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) followed with a three-pointer but the Cardinals matched the early run by the Flyers outscoring them 10-4 over the final 3:23 of the frame to take a 23-14 lead into the second quarter.
 
Lewis opened the second frame scoring six straight points to cut the lead to 23-20, as their tight defense locked down the hot William Jewell offense. The Cardinals pushed their lead back to nine after a three-point play from Kiara Bradley but the Flyers closed the half on a 13-8 run to cut the WJC lead to four at the intermission.
 
Lewis cut the Cardinal lead to 40-39 after a pair of free throws from Schmidt but couldn't quite get over the hump as William Jewell answered back behind Bradley's hot hand, keeping the lead at 50-45 with 2:58 left in the quarter. The Cardinals closed the quarter on a 16-3 run to extend their lead to 15 heading into the final frame.
 
Lewis cut the WJC lead to 72-63 on a three-pointer from Lindsay Harrison (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) near the midway point of the final 10 minutes but that was the closest it got as the Cardinals went on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 19 points. William Jewell led by as many as 20 in the contest.
 
Badali led the way for the Flyers with 15 points and seven steals, followed by Schmidt with 11 points. The Flyers shot 35.7 percent (24-for-64) from the field, were 8-of-28 from three (28.6 percent) and shot 91 percent (21-for-23) at the foul line.
 
The Cardinals finished the contest shooting 51.7 percent (31-for-60) from the floor, were 7-of-15 from three and 26-for-29 at the foul line. They outrebounded Lewis 42-29 and had a 33-16 advantage in fast break points. Claire Burch led all scorers with 24 points. She was joined in double figures by Bradley with 21 points, Sydney Offield added 18 points, Ainsley Tolson dropped in 15 points and Macyn Wilbers finished with 10 points. Bradley also added 13 rebounds for a double-double and Offield had a game-high nine assists.
 
Lewis is back at home on Saturday taking on Rockhurst at 1 p.m.