QUINCY, Ill. – The Quincy University women's basketball team fell to the Missouri Western Griffons 72-52 Saturday (Dec. 30) afternoon. 

The Griffons grabbed the early advantage, outscoring the Hawks 17-6 in the opening quarter.  Missouri Western knocked down three, three-pointers in the first quarter to pace the Griffons attack. 

Led by senior Anika Webster's five points in the second quarter, the Hawks cut the lead to 28-19 at the end of the first half.  

The Hawks outscored the Griffons 13-11 in the second quarter. 

QU trimmed the lead to six with 8:17 remaining in the third quarter.  A jumper by Michaela Gronewold brought the Hawks back into the game. 

Missouri Western went 10-13 from the foul line in the third quarter and pushed its lead to 53-38 at the end of the third quarter. 

QU brought the lead to 11 after a three by Webster with 7:54 to play in the fourth quarter.

The Griffons responded by going on a 10-0 run over the next seven minutes in the final quarter.  

The Hawks were unable to bring the lead under 18 and QU fell to the Griffons 72-52. 

The leading scorer for QU was freshman Julia Ruzevich. 

Ruzevich scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting and she pulled down four rebounds. 

Webster also added 11 points, going 6-7 from the foul line. 

The Griffons took advantage of QU miscues, scoring 21 points off of Hawks turnovers. 

The Hawks fall to 3-8 on the year and return to action tomorrow (Dec. 31) against Missouri Valley at 1:00 p.m. at Pepsi Arena.