cunningham
Brendan Bittner
59
Winner Quincy QU 25-4
54
Lewis LEWIS 28-2
Winner
Quincy QU
25-4
59
Final
54
Lewis LEWIS
28-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Quincy QU 14 14 14 17 59
Lewis LEWIS 15 14 12 13 54

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Brendan Bittner

#22 Lady Hawks Upset #4 Lewis in GLVC Semifinal, 59-54

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The No. 22-ranked Quincy University women's basketball team will play for its third Great Lakes Valley Conference championship on Sunday (March 6) after upsetting No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Lewis, 59-54, in the GLVC Tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Family Arena.
 
The win marked the 100th career victory for fifth-year head coach Jeni Garber. Senior guard Maggie Cunningham (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) also collected her 1,000th career point with her final free throw of the game to help seal the victory. She is the 22nd member of the 1,000-point club in QU women's basketball history.
 
No. 4-seed Quincy will now play No. 3-seed Bellarmine in the GLVC Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Lady Hawks (25-4) last played for a GLVC championship in 2009, falling to Kentucky Wesleyan. Quincy won back-to-back GLVC titles in 2004 and 2005.
 
Quincy snapped the Flyers' 23-game winning streak with the victory.
 
The story of Saturday's game came down to defense. The Lady Hawks held the Flyers to 38.3 percent (23-for-60) shooting from the field.
 
They limited two-time GLVC Player of the Year Mariah Brawner-Henley to just 12 points on 6-for-15 shooting. GLVC Freshman of the Year Jessica Kelliher had just 10 points on 4-for-17 shooting as a rotation of senior center Erin Mennemeyer (Old Monroe, Mo./Troy Buchanan), sophomore forward Anika Webster (Springfield, Ill.) and freshman forward Sarah Schumacher (Whitewater, Wis.) locked in defensively in the post.
 
The Lady Hawks also struggled from the field, shooting a season-low 29.6 percent (16-for-54) from the field. QU made up for it by hitting 20-of-24 (80 percent) at the line. Quincy also matched the Flyers on the boards, 36-36.
 
Lewis (28-2) led in the early minutes after consecutive 3-pointers by Alyssa Dengler and Kayla Brewer opened the game.

Junior guard Nikia Edom (Romeoville, Ill./Murray State) answered with two 3-pointers in the first quarter and QU trailed, 15-14, through one quarter.
 
The Lady Hawks took their first lead of the game on Webster's short jumper. Neither team led by more than three the rest of the quarter, which was played a slow pace as the game turned into a physical grind. Lewis took a 29-28 lead into the break.
 
The Flyers took a 39-35 lead with a 6-0 run in the third quarter, but Mennemeyer dropped in a layup and junior guard Rachel Ruzevich (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg/Moraine Valley) drilled a 3-pointer to give QU the lead. Mennemeyer's free throws at the buzzer gave QU a 42-41 lead going into the fourth.
 
The Lady Hawks continued to dig in in the final quarter, forcing the Flyers into four missed shots and three field goals to open the quarter. By then, Quincy built a 49-41 lead with five minutes remaining.
 
Brewer's 3-pointer stopped the run, but Quincy never let the lead slip under three points the rest of the way. The Lady Hawks went 8-for-10 from the line in the final minute, including Cunningham's last free throw to give her exactly 1,000 points.
 
Edom and Mennemeyer led the Lady Hawks with 14 points each. Webster added 10 points off the bench. Cunningham finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
QU
Print Friendly Version