The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team fell to Lewis University in a 67-53 loss during Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup at TRAC.
 
Both teams battled throughout the first quarter. The only multi-possession lead was when Katelyn Rosner hit a jumper to give the Prairie Stars (6-12, 3-7) a 12-8 advantage with 4 minutes, 30 second remaining in the first quarter. UIS held a 14-12 lead through one quarter, against the Flyers (17-2, 8-1), who are ranked No. 18 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II poll.
 
During the second quarter, Val Meissner knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:44 left in the quarter. Jessica Kelliher cut Lewis's deficit in half with a layup on the next possession. Gabrielle Sanders and Ellie Mitchell scored on the next two possession to build a 24-18 lead for UIS. The Flyers rallied to tie the game at 24-all and again at 26-all. Jasmine Sangster responded by draining a 3-pointer to put the Prairie Stars ahead by three. The Flyers scored the final five points of the half to enter halftime with a 31-29 advantage.
 
Lewis pulled away in the third quarter. After the Flyers led 38-35 with 6:43 left in the third quarter, they went on a 14-2 run to take a 52-37 lead and exit the third quarter with a 54-39 advantage. The Prairie Stars outscored the Flyers 14-13 in the fourth quarter.
 
Lewis cleaned up the glass, outrebounding the Prairie Stars 45-24. During the second half, the Flyers drained 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) shots from the field while UIS converted just 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) attempts from the floor.
 
Lauren Ladowski paced the Prairie Stars with 16 points. The freshman guard from St. John, Ind. scored double digits in her eighth-consecutive game. Sangster tallied six points. Tehya Fortune, Meissner, Rosner and Carson Vance scored five points apiece. Mitchell contributed four points, Erin Bolskar provided three points while Brianna Mefford and Sanders rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points each.
 
Sanders led the Prairie Stars with five rebounds. Sangster collected four steals while Ladowski came up with three steals.
 
Kelliher, the reigning GLVC Player of the Year and two-time defending GLVC Player of the Week, powered to 29 points and 19 rebounds for the Flyers. Tierney Lockett produced 13 points, five assists and three steals. She also hit 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) shots from the floor. Morgan Glactzac blocked four shots, Kaitlyn Williams dished out four assists and Katie Gardner blocked two shots.
 
Lewis made 28-of-51 (54.9 percent) shots from the floor while UIS hit 20-of-63 (31.7 percent) shots from the field.
 
Neither team had a strong day from the perimeter as the Flyers converted 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) attempts and the Prairie Stars converted 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) shots.
 
UIS sank 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Lewis made 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Lewis was plague with 25 turnovers while the Prairie Stars turned the ball over 13 times.
 
The Prairie Stars take on the University of Indianapolis (8-11, 2-7) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in TRAC.