ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's women's basketball team begins its final homestand this Thursday (Feb. 25) hosting Missouri S&T at 5:30 p.m., and Maryville University this Saturday (Feb. 27) at 1 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers will honor seniors Kaitlyn Williams (Homer Glen, Ill./Joliet Catholic) and Reilly Olmstead (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) prior to the start of Saturday's game.

Lewis (11-8, 11-8 GLVC) looks to finish the regular season strong and secure a top four seed in next week's GLVC Tournament. The Flyers enter the final week of the regular season in the fourth spot in the GLVC's Point Rating System with a rating of 3.66 and are head of Missouri-St. Louis who's in fifth with rating of 3.53. Indianapolis is also in the mix at six with a rating of 3.39. The top four seeds will host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament that begins next Wednesday (March 3). After that the semifinals and the championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed next Saturday and Sunday (March 6-7).

Lewis went 1-1 last week defeating Southwest Baptist 85-60 in Bolivar, Mo., last Thursday and then fell at third ranked Drury 100-57. Freshman Jenna Badali (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) averaged 17 points per game last week while shooting 54.5 percent from the three-point line and 50 percent from the field. Williams added 11.5 points per contest and shot 50 percent from beyond the arc. Redshirt-sophomore Lindsay Harrison (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) added eight points and seven rebounds per game while freshman Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) added nine points per outing.

The Miners enter Thursday's contest with a record of 3-16 overall and in the GLVC after falling to UIndy 79-72 in its home finale last Saturday afternoon. Alex Kerr led three S&T players in double figures with 25 points while Laura Rodriguez and Marta Durk finished with 14 and 13 points respectively. Kerr also added a team-high 10 rebounds and a game-high two blocked shots in the contest.

The Miners have four players averaging double figures in scoring and are led by Rodriguez with 15.8 points per contest while Kerr is averaging 15.4 points per outing, Kristen Keys is contributing 12.2 points per game and Durk is averaging 10.8 ppg. Kerr leads the conference in blocked shots with 40 and is second in the league in blocks per game with 2.11 and rebounds per game with 10.1.

Thursday's contest marks the 20th meeting all-time between the Flyers and S&T with Lewis holding a 16-3 advantage in the series and have won eight straight meetings. Last season, the Flyers led by 13 after the first quarter and withstood a second half rally from the Miners to earn a 71-63 victory.

Maryville (10-9, 10-9 GLVC) is also battling for a spot in the GLVC Tournament as they enter the final week of the regular season holding the eight spot in the GLVC PRS with 3.24 points and are just .03 points ahead of Illinois Springfield for the final spot in the tournament. The Saints play at UIndy on Thursday before heading to Romeoville on Saturday.

In its last outing, Maryville picked up its third straight win defeating McKendree 87-84 last Thursday at Moloney Arena. Antoinette Mussorici led the Saints with 24 points while Rylee Mulvaney added 19 points and Donnetta Colbert and Olivia Kastens finished with 14 and 12 points respectively. Mussorici also added seven assists and five steals.

Jayda Jensen leads Maryville in scoring with 18.4 points per game while Mussorici is not far behind at 17.6 points per outing. Karlee Feldman leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game and Mussorici leads the team with 79 assists while Jensen leads the team with 49 steals.

Saturday's contest is the 14th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Saints with Lewis holding a 10-3 lead in the series which includes an 80-65 win for Lewis earlier this season at Moloney Arena. The Flyers shot 79.2 percent (19-for-24) in the second half of that game and were led by freshman Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) with 24 points and 10 rebounds.