St. Louis, Mo. – The Lewis University women's basketball team defeated Missouri-St. Louis 61-56 Saturday (March 2) for its ninth straight win. The Flyers also clinched the outright Great Lakes Valley Conference title, winning the most GLVC games in a season in program history (19).
 
TEAM RECORDS
Lewis 20-8 (19-3 GLVC) | UMSL 13-15 (11-11 GLVC)

LEWIS LEADERS
Points: Jenna Badali (Oak Lawn, Ill./Mother McAuley) (19), Grace Hilber (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) (12), Taylor Gugliuzza (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) (12), Cierra McNamee (Moline, Ill.) (9)
Rebounds: Kathryn Schmidt (Hampshire, Ill./Burlington Central) (7), Lily Courier (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) (6)
Assists: Hilber (6)
Steals: Schmidt (4)
 
GAME SUMMARY
The Tritons scored the first six points of the game as Lewis' first basket came at the 4:38 mark of the first quarter on a jumper by Badali. That basket got the Flyers going as they scored 12 points in the second half of the first quarter to take a 12-11 lead after one period as McNamee scored the final six points of the frame for the Flyers.
 
UMSL scored the first seven points of the second quarter to take an 18-12 lead. Hilber answered with back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead to 18-16. After a Triton three-pointer, Hilber answered again with another jumper. 
 
Hilber's fourth basket of the quarter tied the game at 23-23. UMSL retook the lead, but Badali hit a jumper with five seconds left in the half to make it 25-25 at the half.
 
Badali opened the third quarter with a three pointer to put the Flyers back ahead, but the Tritons came back with the next six points to take a 31-28 lead before a Badali basket stopped the run. After an UMSL basket, McNamee had a conventional three-point play to tie the game and Gugliuzza followed with a three-pointer to give the Flyers the lead back.
 
A pair of Hilber free throws and a Courier jumper finished off a 10-0 run and extended the Lewis lead to 40-33. A three-point play by Gugliuzza extended the lead to 43-35 before UMSL cut the lead to 46-41 at the end of the third quarter.
 
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter before UMSL went on a 9-2 run to cut the Lewis lead to 53-52 with 4:21 remaining. Another Gugliuzza three-point play stopped the run, giving Lewis a 56-52 advantage. 
 
UMSL made it a one possession game once again, but Badali drilled a three-pointer with 1:43 left to make it a 59-54 Lewis lead. After a pair of UMSL free throws, Badali clinched the win with a jumper with 13 seconds remaining.

Badali's scoring on the night included her 1,000th point as a Flyer, reaching the milestone in her 85th career game.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers begin their quest for the GLVC Tournament title Thursday (March 7) in St. Charles, Mo. As the No. 1 seed, the Flyers will face the No. 8 seed Missouri-St. Louis at noon.