CHICAGO – A spirited fourth-quarter rally was not enough as the Roosevelt Lakers lost their home opener to Indiana University Northwest 79-59 on Wednesday evening in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers (1-2, 1-1 CCAC) entered the fourth quarter down 23 points, but a full-court press and some timely shooting cut the deficit to 11 points midway through the period. The effort was led by freshman Lauren Gillion, who scored all eight of her points during the 13-0 run that brought the Lakers bench to its feet. Her 3-pointer kickstarted a run of three triples in 40 seconds that forced a timeout from the RedHawks.

It was a rough offensive night prior to the run for Roosevelt, which made just 19 of its 81 attempts in the game. Jayla Turchin again led the way for the Lakers with 19 points as she battled in the post with the sizable RedHawks frontline. The size around the rim led to many contested layups around the rim and a reliance on the perimeter shooting. Roosevelt sank just eight of its 28 attempts from behind the arc, creating plenty of rebounding opportunities.

Although Indiana Northwest made life difficult around the rim, Roosevelt was able to grab 19 offensive rebounds and turn them into seven second-chance points. Overall, the Lakers were outrebounded 56-47 as the RedHawks were able to tip out several loose balls to teammates to collect. Turchin had 12 rebounds to lead the Lakers and Chyna Scott added eight as well off the bench.

Freshman Taylor Treat earned her first start of the season and quickly scored five points to get the offense going for Roosevelt. However, Treat cooled off after that start, part of a larger trend that also included Meghan Urbanski. The Rockhurst transfer was the only other Lakers player to reach double figures with 10 points, but she had an uncharacteristically poor shooting game, making just 3 of 14 from the field.

Roosevelt trailed by just one point with four minutes left in the first quarter, but the RedHawks bridged the first and second quarter with a 17-5 run to take control of the game. After stopping the run, the Lakers held Indiana Northwest to just one point for the next five minutes, but Roosevelt was unable to cut into the advantage with just four points during that same stretch.

The Lakers return to action Saturday afternoon in Davenport, Iowa when they take on the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees at 1 p.m.