CHICAGO – Roosevelt couldn't overcome an early Lewis spurt in a 69-49 setback against the Flyers in the Lakers' non-conference finale Monday night in Romeoville.

The teams traded baskets in the early going with freshman Talya Tillman carrying the Lakers (2-6) in the first quarter. Hey layup with 5:42 left in the opening quarter gave Roosevelt a 10-9 lead, which it held into the media timeout. However, the Flyers scored the next 13 points before a Lexie Sinclair layup ended the Lakers' drought.

Roosevelt's defense tightened up dramatically in the second half as the Lakers ran Lewis off the 3-point line and held the Flyers to 29 percent shooting. The Lakers were able to cut its deficit down to seven points at intermission with Tillman leading the charge with 10 points. The freshman was the only Lakers player to finish in double figures with 11 points, easily surpassing her previous season high of three points. She also fell a rebound shy of her career best with seven boards and was credited with two blocks and two steals.

Lewis' lead dwindled even more in the early third quarter with Roosevelt chipping away with some timely 3-point shooting. Jalyssa Carrasco twice nailed a 3-pointer to bring the deficit back to within single digits. Abby Bradbury added a triple of her own to cut the deficit again to seven then Marie Outlay drew a charge, leading to a Kencia Levasseur layup right before the media timeout.

Unfortunately for Roosevelt, the Flyers scored the final eight points in the quarter to extend the lead out to 13. The Lakers didn't let Lewis pull too far away until the bitter end when the frantic pace of the game led to turnovers aplenty between the two sides.

In her return to Romeoville, Lewis transfer Jayla Turchin scored eight points and added six rebounds. Outlay scored seven points and rejected a pair of shots while Carrasco and Alexia Lohman both added six points each. Carrasco also led the team with five assists, and Outlay and Sinclair added three helpers each.

UP NEXT: The Lakers fast forward into conference play for the rest of the season, starting January 2 with a home date against Purdue Northwest at 5:30 p.m. in the Goodman Center.