Strong start doesn’t lead to stellar finish as QU women can’t keep Lewis from rallying for victory

QUINCY — It wasn’t a slow start that that did in the Quincy University women’s basketball team this time.

Instead, it was an erratic finish.

Less than 48 hours after erasing a 29-point deficit to nearly upset the University of Indianapolis, the Hawks scored the opening 12 points and led Great Lakes Valley Conference co-leader Lewis University for nearly 29 minutes Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Arena.

But a series of turnovers, missed shots and a mental lapse in the waning seconds sent QU to its fourth straight loss, 76-70.

“It’s a chain of events and here we are back to a game where we don’t come out on top but it’s within three possessions,” Hawks coach Courtney Boyd said after her team lost for the seventh time by six or fewer points.

“When we find those three possessions, there’s going to be a couple of teams that are in trouble.”

The Hawks, who led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, were up eight with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter when the turnover bug hit. They turned it over five times and managed just three free throws the rest of the period.

The Flyers tied it at 58 on two free throws by Taylor Gugliuzza with 23.1 seconds left, and then took their first lead when Gugliuzza hit a 3-pointer and then stepped through the lane for a layup to open the final quarter.

Neither team shot the ball well in the fourth period. Lewis went 3 for 11 from the field and was unable to connect over the final five minutes. QU went just 4 of 15 but managed to close within 67-66 on an inside basket by Acheampomaa Danso with 30.3 seconds remaining.

Kathryn Schmidt hit the first of two free throws with 28.6 seconds left but missed the second. The Hawks’ Cymirah Williams was in position to snare the rebound as Boyd was preparing to call timeout to advance the ball to midcourt.

But as Williams went to grab it, she pulled back, dropping the ball and it rolled out of bounds.

One official ruled she had possession when the timeout was called and two said she didn’t. After an inconclusive replay review, they ruled a jump ball, giving the Flyers possession. They then hit six free throws to seal it.

“You can grab it, you just cannot dribble it or pass it up the court (to get the timeout),” Boyd said. “(Williams) thought she wasn’t supposed to touch it all. It was a misunderstanding.

“She came over and immediately said, ‘Coach, that’s my bad. I should have held on to it.’ It was one of those things in the heat of the moment and we didn’t talk it through. She thought she was doing the right thing.”

The finish marred an otherwise strong performance by QU, which fell to 9-16 overall and 8-11 in the GLVC. The hosts shot 60 percent from the field in the opening quarter and blitzed the Flyers with five 3-pointers to lead 20-6 after five minutes.

But guard Grace Hilber hit back-to-back threes from each corner, and Gugliuzza followed with a 3-pointer and a step-around layup to narrow the gap to 25-19 at the end of the period. Hilber and Gugliuzza finished with 20 points apiece.

Consecutive rebound putbacks by Danso kept the Hawks in front by eight, only for Lewis to close within 40-37 at the half when Hilber banked in a three from the top of the circle.

Although the Flyers enjoyed a sizeable height advantage inside with two 6-footers in Schmidt and Lily Courier, QU was able to hold its own for much of the game until good looks became harder to get late. A layin by Danso and a pull-up jumper by Mariann Blass kept the cushion at 53-45 with 4:51 to go in the third.

That’s when the Hawks began turning the ball over and Lewis responded. Schmidt, who finished with 19 points, had a layup in transition and a 3-pointer before Hilber hit a jumper from the right of the lane to pull the Flyers within two to set the stage for Gugliuzza to tie it.

“We turned the ball over too much,” said Danso, who finished with a team-best 15 points and eight rebounds. “We let them speed us up, which isn’t our game. We like to play slow … to go all the way to the end of the shot clock.”

After the sizzling start, QU shot just 35.6 percent from the field over the final three quarters and was 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

“They jumped into a zone, and we weren’t getting as quick of buckets,” Boyd said. “We played a little hot potato at the end of the game. We tried to do things that we weren’t doing in the beginning.”

Mikayla Huffine scored 13 points and Williams had 10 for the Hawks, but they were a combined 9 for 25 from the field. Janiece Dawson came off the bench to score 11 points.

Lewis won its fifth game in a row to improve to 16-8 overall and 15-3 in the GLVC, keeping pace with Drury atop the league standings.

For QU, it felt like an opportunity lost.

“It’s really hard for us to not get the outcome we wanted, especially when we started off strong,” Danso said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the conference. We have a chip on our shoulder, and it would have been nice to beat them.”