wbb
Brendan Bittner
76
William Jewell WJC 10-7, 5-4 GLVC
78
Winner Quincy QU 11-6, 6-3 GLVC
William Jewell WJC
10-7, 5-4 GLVC
76
Final
78
Quincy QU
11-6, 6-3 GLVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
William Jewell WJC 40 36 76
Quincy QU 36 42 78

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Brendan Bittner

Lady Hawks Win Sixth Straight on Cunningham's Jumper

QUINCY, Ill. – Junior guard Maggie Cunningham (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) hit a 10-foot jumper in the lane with 3.5 seconds left to lift the Lady Hawks to a 78-76 win over William Jewell at Pepsi Arena Saturday (Jan. 24) afternoon.
 
The win extended the Lady Hawks' winning streak to six games and moved them into sole possession of second place in the GLVC West.
 
The second half featured six tie scores and three lead changes as the teams battled back-and-forth down the stretch. Maddie Nelson's layup for the Cardinals with 31 seconds to go tied the game at 76-76. After a timeout, the Lady Hawks ran the shot clock nearly to the buzzer before Cunningham found the space in the lane to connect on the game-winner.
 
Aerial Smith then went the length of the floor on the final possession, but her running 3-pointer rimmed out to seal the win for QU
 
The Lady Hawks (11-6, 6-3 GLVC) did not play their best game on Saturday, committing 20 turnovers as the Cardinals (10-7, 5-4 GLVC) turned those miscues into 27 points. The key for Quincy was shooting 55.8 percent (29-for-52) from the field and out-rebounding the Cardinals, 29-21. William Jewell shot 50 percent (28-for-56) for the game.
 
Quincy trailed for most of the first half as the Cardinals went on a 14-6 run to open the game. William Jewell led by as many as nine, 27-18, with 6:20 left in the half before the Lady Hawks went on a 13-3 run – capped by a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Nia Roth (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word) – to take a 31-30 lead with 2:40 remaining in the half.
 
William Jewell answered by scoring the next eight points and the visitors took a 40-36 lead into halftime.
 
The Cardinals led by as many as 11 points in the second half before the Lady Hawks again fought back into the game. Freshman forward Anika Webster (Springfield, Ill.) got a layin with 5:49 remaining to cut the deficit down to 65-64. Webster finished with a career-high 15 points, scoring 11 in the second half.
 
Cunningham got a bucket with just over four minutes left to tie the game at 67-67, but the Cardinals regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Hayli Jo Smith, who finished with 15 points – all coming on threes.
 
Junior center Erin Mennemeyer (Old Monroe, Mo./Troy Buchanan) recorded a layup to bring the Lady Hawks to within one, 74-73, with 2:34 left and then split two free throws with 2:09 to play to tie the game at 74-74.
 
The 6-foot-2 post player then plucked a rebound on the next possession and Cunningham finished with a layup giving Quincy its first lead since early in the second half, 76-74. The teams traded a couple missed baskets and the Lady Hawks committed a costly turnover with 44 seconds left to give the ball to the Cardinals for the game-tying score.
 
On a broken play, Cunningham controlled the ball after Quincy's timeout and ran the shot clock to under five before creating space in the lane for her short jumper to fall.
 
When Aeriel Smith's heave did not fall, a boisterous Pepsi Arena crowd erupted as the Lady Hawks sealed the win.
 
Aeriel Smith finished with a game-high 18 points, but had just one basket in the final 13 minutes of the game as she was guarded primarily by redshirt-sophomore guard Cierra Young (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word).
 
Mennemeyer joined Webster by scoring a career-high 15 points to go with six rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. Senior guard Carly Bettencourt (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Butler CC) had 12 points and Young finished with points and three boards. Cunningham had nine points and five assists in 24 minutes.
 
The Lady Hawks will return to the court on Thursday (Jan. 29) when they open a four-game road trip at Missouri S&T (4-13, 0-9 GLVC) at 5:30 p.m.
 
QU
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