Crim: Success of QU women’s basketball team is making Pepsi Arena electric environment once again

QUINCY — Little by little, the roar is returning to Pepsi Arena.

The stands on the east side of the arena were nearly full for Saturday afternoon’s much-anticipated women’s basketball showdown between Quincy University and Drury.

There was a vocal student section across from the Hawks’ bench that made its presence known, and fans were lined along the back railings. There were rows of spectators rising in the cavernous second deck behind the benches. Chairs along the court and under the baskets were mostly filled.

They came to see if QU, winner of 11 straight, could accomplish something it had not done in 11 years: Beat Drury.

What they witnessed was a double-overtime thriller that had more twists and turns than a John Grisham novel as the Hawks ultimately prevailed 104-94 to vanquish their long-time nemesis and vault into second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

There were several reasons why QU pulled out the victory, but second-year coach Courtney Boyd was quick to point to one contribution that did not appear in the box score.

“There’s something to be said for the crowd that we have and the support that we had,” she said. “Every single overtime, it got louder and louder.

“The girls, of course, had to play. They had to execute down the stretch, they had to make baskets and get stops. But the sixth man was definitely our fans. Kudos to them for making this the environment that it needed to be in order to pull away for the win.”

Quincy fans appreciate good basketball, and they were out in force while QU was making 11 NCAA Division II tournament appearances in the first decade and a half of this century. It was the team to beat in the GLVC before Drury snatched that mantle.

While eight straight losing seasons dampened that enthusiasm and made Pepsi Arena a lonely place to be, these Hawks are once again offering a reason for fans to return. They’ve now won 12 in a row and stand at 18-5 with six regular-season games remaining. The postseason appears to be a destination, not a pipe dream.

Still, they needed to beat Drury, which had won the previous 17 games in the series, to feel validated.

The Panthers own the best all-time winning percentage in Division II women’s basketball. They have reached the national tournament 21 times in the last 24 seasons, including 11 appearances in a row. They have won five regional championships and were national runners-up in 2004 and 2021.

Not to mention, they have owned QU.

“We had this game circled on our calendar,” said Cymirah Williams, who was clapping and smiling in the direction of the student section as the final seconds ticked away. “We had something to prove.”

QU won because it stayed steady after falling into a seven-point hole in the first quarter and didn’t panic when its 12-point halftime lead vanished in the second half. It didn’t flinch when a four-point cushion with 20.1 seconds remaining in the first overtime evaporated.

Displaying remarkable balance, six of the 10 players who saw action on Saturday scored in double figures over 50 grueling minutes. Point guard Mikayla Huffine, who entered averaging 3.8 points per game, scored 18 and had a team-high four assists while directing the offense with precision.

Williams, Chomp Danso and Taylor Haase combined for 43 points and 29 rebounds against a much taller Drury interior. Their work, especially on the offensive end, produced a decisive 58-42 rebounding edge that led to 28 second-chance points.

Yet, it’s the little things, the hustle plays, that endear this team to its fans.

Scrappy Taya Stevenson scored only four points, but they came on back-to-back possessions when her team was struggling early and needed a spark. She also came up with three clutch offensive rebounds and two timely steals.

Ashlynn Arnsman, a sophomore from Mendon Unity, played only three minutes, but her rebound bucket at the first-quarter buzzer gave QU its first lead at 19-17.

There was Janiece Dawson saving a possession late in the first half by flicking the ball off a Drury defender while flying out of bounds and crashing into the Hawks’ bench.

Nicole McDermott led the team in bruises and floor burns by repeatedly leaping and diving across the end line to keep the ball in play. She had five of QU’s 10 steals, none bigger than her theft and layup with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left in regulation that pulled her team within two to keep it within striking distance.

Karsyn Stratton snared an offensive rebound after Williams missed two free throws and calmly sank two of her own to give the Hawks a 90-87 lead with 12.8 seconds left in the first overtime. That enabled them to survive a last-second 3-pointer by Makaiya Brooks that forced a second extra period.

Mariann Blass struggled through an uncharacteristic 3-for-11 shooting performance, but she shook free to confidently drain a 3-pointer from the right wing to open the second overtime to give QU a lead it would never relinquish.

“All of those things were important in a game like this,” Boyd said.

With the celebration over, it’s time to focus on the season’s closing stretch.

QU travels to Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday. The Tritons (17-5, 11-4 GLVC) have won seven of the last 10 meetings, although the Hawks pulled out a 64-53 home victory on Jan. 20.

After another road game on Saturday against Lincoln, QU hosts McKendree and Maryville, teams directly behind fourth-place UMSL in the league standings. McKendree has beaten the Hawks seven of the last 10 times they have met.

And then there is a Feb. 27 road test against GLVC leader Lewis. The Flyers have won 11 in a row in the series and haven’t lost to QU in Romeoville since Jan. 12, 2012.

However, as the Hawks proved Saturday against Drury, past performance is not a guarantee for future results.

“This team wants to be in the mix, to be in the conversation,” Boyd said.

That they are.