ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Hawks have a date with Maryville in the GLVC Championship game after a 54-point second half overwhelmed the Panthers of Drury University on Saturday night (Mar. 8) in the semifinals.

The #1 offense in the GLVC quickly got going with a back-door layup on their first offensive possession, and for the Hawks, it took them over two minutes to get on the board, as Karsyn Stratton picked up where she left off in the quarterfinals with a pull-up jumper. 

The two teams traded baskets for the first seven minutes, with Drury having the lead for the majority of the time, but the Hawks got their first lead of the game after an off-balance jumper in the lane from Cymirah Williams to give the Hawks an 18-17 lead with 1:18 left to go in the first.

A layup through traffic from Janiece Dawson and a pair of free throws in the final seconds from Taylor Haase gave the Hawks a 22-19 lead after 10 minutes of action.

It was a cold start from the QU offense coming out of the break, starting the second quarter 1-4 from the field with a couple of missed layups, and Drury took advantage, going on a 7-2 run to open up the first three minutes and regain the lead at 26-24.

The Hawks offensive woes continued through the first five minutes, as the Hawks were 1-9 from the field, luckily, finding themselves only down four points. A Williams jumper from the free throw line gave the Hawks their first bucket . However, a swift 5-0 run from the Panthers gave them their largest lead of the game at 33-26.

A three-pointer from Drury's key guard off the bench, Kaylee King, capped off a thirteen-point quarter, outscoring the Hawks by herself, who only scored 10 points in the quarter to Drury's 19, as the Hawks found themselves trailing at the break for the second straight night, 38-32.

Coming out of the break, the Hawks ran a set play to get Acheampomaa Danso the basketball down low for a quick two on their first possession. The Drury offense continued to be relentless and answered the Hawks with buckets of their own, holding their eight-point lead halfway through the third. 

Out of the media timeout, a set out-of-bounds play for Nicole McDermott on the right wing for a three-pointer cut the Drury six-point lead in half with three and a half minutes to go in the third. McDermott worked her way to the line and knocked down two free throws to give the Hawks their first lead since 8:06 left to go in the second quarter at 51-50.

With just seven seconds to get the ball across the floor, Stratton drove through the chest of her defender and pulled up at the free throw line for her second buzzer-beater of the GLVC tournament to give the Hawks a 55-50 lead heading into the final quarter.

Quincy opened up the fourth quarter with a small 4-0 run after buckets from Danso and McDermott to give the Hawks their largest lead of the game at nine. The Drury offense continued to stay relentless, but the Quincy offense proved why they have a top offense in Division II, matching the Panthers bucket for bucket. At the halfway point, Dawson extended the Hawks's solid free throw shooting, knocking down two more free throws, making it 69-61 in favor of QU.

The next two minutes were dominated by the Hawks. A 10-1 run capped off by Stratton's layup saw Quincy with a commanding 79-62 lead with three minutes to play. The Panthers knocked down a pair of threes, cutting into the lead, but the Hawks could smell the championship game, breaking the Panther press and executing at the free throw line. Quincy shot 13-15 from the free throw line in the fourth, keeping their double-digit lead until the clock hit zero. 

A dominant second half for the Hawks, outscoring the Panthers 54-36 in the second half behind a scorching hot 66% shooting (19-29) and 88% from the free throw line (15-17). Quincy had five players in double figures, with Nicole McDermott leading the way with 19 points, 13 of them coming in the second half. Williams pulled down 10 rebounds for the second straight game, and McDermott was a rebound shy of a double-double.

The Hawks will move on to the GLVC Championship game for the first time since the 2015-16 season to take on Maryville University with tipoff scheduled at 3:30 PM Sunday (Mar. 9). These two teams met once this season at Pepsi Arena, where the Saints snapped the Hawks 15-game winning streak with a 94-86 victory over the Hawks. Quincy will not only be looking for revenge but its first GLVC Tournament Championship since 2005.