CHICAGO, Ill. – The Lewis University women's basketball team beat Roosevelt 59-51 Saturday (Dec. 20) in the final game of 2025 for the Flyers. Lewis heads into the break with a 5-6 record.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
Yahaira Bueno (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) scored 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting to go along with four steals. Jasmine Jones (Bolingbrook, IL/Bolingbrook) had eight points and eight rebounds, while Mercy Lasu (Winnipeg, Canada/D'Youville) had seven points and nine boards. Ally Cesarini (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) recorded four steals.
 
Isabella Pitts had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mallory Ramage (Mattoon, Ill./Loyola Chicago) and Gabi Hoover (Mishawaka, Ind./La Lumiere) scored baskets early in the contest to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead. After a Roosevelt basket, Cesarini and Lasu scored baskets to lead 8-3 with 4:38 left in the first quarter.
 
The Lakers went on a 10-2 run to push ahead 13-10 before a Tene Smith jumper stopped the run. The Lakers led 15-14 after one quarter.
 
Roosevelt scored the first six points of the second quarter to take the biggest lead of the game at 21-14. Lewis got back to within two points and 21-19 before the teams traded scores for the rest of the half with the Lakers leading 28-24 at the break.
 
Both teams continued to go back-and-forth throughout much of the third quarter until a pair of baskets by Bueno evened the score at 36-36. Another Bueno basket tied the score at 38-38 and a Lasu basket at the end of the third quarter gave the Flyers a 40-39 advantage after three quarters.
 
Bueno continued to lead the way for the Flyers in the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points of the period to push the Flyers ahead 44-41 with 8:08 remaining. Neither team scored for more than two minutes until Lasu scored on a pass from Hoover to make it 46-41 with 5:58 remaining. A pair of Bueno free throws made it eight straight Flyer points as they took a 48-41 lead.
 
After a Laker basket stopped the run, Bueno came back with two more baskets to give Lewis a 52-43 advantage. A conventional three-point play for the Lakers pulled them back to within six points before free throws from Lewis finished off the win.
 
The Flyers had a 45-40 rebounding edge to go along with 11 steals. They held the Lakers to 16 percent shooting (4-of-25) from beyond the arc.
 
GAME NOTES
 

• Bueno's 22 points were a career-high, eclipsing her 21-point output in the season-opener against Michigan Tech.
• Cesarini is the first player in program history to have four or more steals in five straight games, recording 23 steals in that timeframe.
• Flyers have allowed past two opponents to average just 15.4 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-39).

UP NEXT
Lewis returns from break with a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at McKendree at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 2.