Lady Hawks Take Flight to GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals

GLVC TOURNAMENT WEBSITE
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Friday, Mar. 6
12 p.m. - No. 5 Quincy (16-11) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin-Parkside (21-6) - GLVC Tournament Quarterfinal
FAMILY ARENA - St. Charles

Saturday, Mar. 7
6 p.m. - Quincy/UW-Parkside vs. Drury/Indianapolis - GLVC Tournament Semifinal
FAMILY ARENA - St. Charles

Sunday, Mar. 8
3:30 p.m. - GLVC Championship
FAMILY ARENA - St. Charles, Mo.

FOLLOW LIVE
WATCH | LIVE STATS
RADIO: ESPN 1440 WGEM-AM

QUINCY GAME NOTES (PDF) | UW-PARKSIDE GAME NOTES

WEEKLY LOOK-AHEAD: The No. 5 Lady Hawks (16-11, 10-8 GLVC) take on No. 4 Wisconsin-Parkside (21-6, 14-4 GLVC) at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. on Friday at noon for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinals. This will be the first neutral site game the Lady Hawks have played this season. The Family Arena is about two hours away from Quincy University's campus.

Wisconsin-Parkside came to Pepsi Arena on Jan. 4 and escaped with a 55-54 win over the Lady Hawks. In a crazy turn of events, the Rangers flipped a three-point deficit into a one point lead in five seconds. Gaby Bronson hit a layup, and then UW-Parkside forced a turnover and converted another layup this time by Stephanie Furr. Bronson came up with a block on the other end to seal the win for the Rangers. Bronson leads the team with 12.4 points per game. She also leads the team with 4.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.Kristin Conniff averages 10 points per game with 40 three pointers this season. Tara Knapstein averages 9.2 points off the bench for the Rangers.

LAST LOOK AT LAST GAME: The Lady Hawks won their GLVC Tournament First Round game against Saint Joseph's in a grudge match at Pepsi Arena. The Pumas won in Pepsi Arena (64-57) on Feb. 14 this season before playing again on Mar. 1. This time the Lady Hawks locked down defensively for a 52-49 win to advance to the GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals in St. Charles, Mo.
Kara Gerbus led the Lady Hawks with 13 points in the first postseason game. Maggie Cunningham and Tori Kuhn both chipped in 11 points for QU. Cunningham did not leave the court for the Lady Hawks playing all 40 minutes.

One of the biggest plays of the game came when Tiara Thomas stole an inbound pass with one minute left and passed it to Kara Gerbus for a wide open layup to help the Lady Hawks to a three-point lead. That was the last pair of points scored by either team. The QU defense forced a shot clock violation and eventually dribbled out the clock.

PLAYOFFS! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS!: The Lady Hawks enter the GLVC Championship Tournament for 17th time in school history. QU lost to Truman State (68-54) in the semifinals last season after receiving a bye as the three seed. In the quarterfinals the Lady Hawks topped Southern Indiana (75-69) in Evansville, Ind. This season the GLVC Championship Tournament quarterfinals, semifinals, and final will take place at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The last time the Lady Hawks won the GLVC Championship Tournament was in 2004-05. They also won in 2003-04. This is the eighth consecutive season that the Lady Hawks have qualified for the GLVC Championship Tournament. With their win against Saint Joseph's in the first round this year, the Lady Hawks have won at least one game in six of the last eight GLVC Tournaments.

SENIOR STEPPING UP: With the amount of injuries the Lady Hawks have endured, senior guard Tiara Thomas has found herself in the starting lineup the past two games. Thomas has been a ballhawk defensively with five steals in two games and has been a lockdown defender at the three-point line. Her hustle on defense has sparked the Lady Hawks to a pair of strong defensive performances against Truman State (63-51) and Saint Joseph's (52-49). Thomas has made seven starts before this season.

WEBSTER SETTLING IN: Anika Webster has scored in double figures nine of her last 12 games. In that stretch she has tied or topped her career-high three times. The freshman forward has scored double-digits in 16 games this season. The Springfield, Ill. native set a career-high with 17 points against Indianapolis on Feb. 12. Most recently, Webster scored 15 points in a Lady Hawks 63-51 win over Truman State (Feb. 26).

MIXING AND MATCHING: The Lady Hawks have turned in 13 different starting lineups in 27 games this season. The Maggie Cunningham, Kara Gerbus, Anika Webster, Carly Beebe, and Nikia Edom lineup just took over as the group that has started the most games at six. They are currently 3-3 in those six starts together. After the game against Truman State on Thursday (Feb. 26) there are no women's basketball players who have started every game this season. Nikia Edom started the first 25 games before Truman State.

HOT SHOOTING: The Lady Hawks are shooting 43.3% from the field this season ranking third in the GLVC. Their field goal percentage ranks 41st nationally. The Lady Hawks' hot shooting extends outside the three-point arc. QU is shooting 37.8% from three this season rankng third in the GLVC. The Lady Hawks rank 14th in NCAA Division II three-point field goal percentage. QU has averaged 71.2 points per game this season adding up to a positive 6.5 point differential.

FREE THROWS FRIENDLIER TO LADY HAWKS: Over the past four games the Lady Hawks have averaged a higher free-throw percentage than their season average. Against Missouri-St. Louis, QU shot 73.7% from the charity stripe. QU shot 78.6% from the line against Maryville. The Lady Hawks hit 25 of 27 free-throws against Truman State for a 92.6% mark from the line. In the GLVC Tournament, QU shot 83.3% from the line against Saint Joseph's.

CUNNINGHAM'S COURT: Maggie Cunningham has been on the court for 30 minutes or more the past six games. During that time, Cunningham has averaged 14.2 points per game, 3.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 36.5 minutes.

LIGHTING UP THREES: The Lady Hawks average 7.6 threes per game this season ranking tie for first in the GLVC. QU is 21st in NCAA Division II. Maggie Cunningham hit six threes against Indianapolis on Feb. 12. Kara Gerbus set a career-high with five threes against Maryville on Feb. 21.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#23 Carly Beebe: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#5 Maggie Cunningham: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#15 Kara Gerbus: F; 5' 10"; Junior

#21 Tori Kuhn: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#10 Tiara Thomas: G; 5' 6"; Redshirt Senior

#4 Nikia Edom: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#22 Anika Webster: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#23 Carly Beebe
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#5 Maggie Cunningham
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#15 Kara Gerbus
: 5' 10"; Junior
: F

#21 Tori Kuhn
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#10 Tiara Thomas
: 5' 6"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#4 Nikia Edom
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#22 Anika Webster
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F