Hawks use rebounding, points in paint to surge past Drury, reach championship game of GLVC Tournament

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The Quincy University women’s basketball team was on the brink of seeing its season end Saturday night when Makaiya Brooks scored from the baseline with 4:47 left in the third quarter to put Drury ahead 50-42.

“I was not worried at all, really,” Hawks senior Cymirah Williams said.

Apparently, neither were her teammates.

QU played what Hawks coach Courtney Boyd called one of the top two halves of basketball this season, outscoring No. 2 seed Drury 44-22 from that point forward to win 86-74 in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at Hyland Arena.

The third-seeded Hawks (24-7) have reached the GLVC Tournament championship game for the sixth time in school history, the last time coming in 2016. The only GLVC titles for QU came in 2003 and 2004 when it defeated Indianapolis each time.

QU’s opponent in the championship is fifth-seeded Maryville (16-14), which stunned top-seeded Lewis 73-59 in the first semifinal on Saturday. The Saints have won five straight, a streak that started on Feb. 23 with a 94-86 victory in Pepsi Arena that snapped a 15-game winning streak for the Hawks.

An automatic bid to next week’s NCAA Division II Tournament will be on the line at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

“(Maryville is) playing really well. They’re a really good team,” Boyd said. “They shoot it well from the three (making 56 more 3-pointers than any team in the GLVC), so we’ve got a few adjustments to make. Hopefully we can get the job done.”

The Hawks certainly got the job done in the second half.

Shooting just 33 percent (11 of 33) from the field and turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, QU was fortunate only to trail 38-32 at intermission. Drury pushed the lead to eight points on three occasions in the first five minutes of the third quarter before the Hawks took over.

QU scored 17 consecutive points during a run that extended into the fourth quarter. Nicole McDermott had seven points in the run, while Chomp Danso had six and Karsyn Stratton added four.

Meanwhile, Drury (22-7) went scoreless for 6 minutes, 11 seconds, missing seven field goals, two free throws and turning the ball over three times. When Brooks made two free throws with 8:36 remaining in the game, that 50-42 Drury lead had turned into a 59-52 Quincy advantage.

The Hawks, who led the GLVC in rebounding margin this season, won the rebounding battle 42-33. During the last 15 minutes, they outrebounded the Panthers 16-7.

“It started with rebounds,” Boyd said. “We got outrebounded (Friday) night in a quarterfinal victory over Missouri S&T, so I think they took a little pride in what they did today. Rebounding is exactly what helped us get stops. Nobody shot 100% today, so we knew that on those misses, we could only give them one opportunity.”

“It was about boxing out and reading the shot,” said Williams, who finished with 14 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and four assists. “I mean, that’s kind of something I’m really good at. I feel like trusting each other and knowing that we needed to box out and get the rebound no matter what. They started taking the quick shot, and we needed that rebound.

“So, you know (pounding her chest), that was me.”

Drury made one last run, getting within 61-57 with 6:51 left to play on a 3-pointer by Brooks. However, she was called for a technical foul moments later, and McDermott made two free throws. The teams traded buckets for the next minute, making the score 67-61 in favor of Quincy.

The Hawks then scored the next nine points, with Janiece Dawson’s offensive rebound basket at the 3:45 mark making the score 76-61. Drury never got closer than 12 thereafter.

Danso, held to two free throws in the first half, finished with 12 points. QU outscored Drury 30-4 in the second half in the paint.

“Chomp was able to find the bottom of the net two times in a row, and that opened up our guards,” Boyd said. “When our posts are able to score, it puts us in a better position. (Danso) locked in, and she adjusted the way she was trying to score.”

Drury coach Kaci Bailey thought Quincy’s physicality was the difference.

“That’s kind of who they are, and I thought it just really wore on us,” she said. “They kind of got the momentum, and when things kind of started going their way, I just felt like we just didn’t handle adversity. I thought we kind of hit the panic button. We get down three points, and we stopped our ball movement. We tried to be a hero.

“When things were going our way, it was good. As soon as they punched us, we couldn’t punch back.”

McDermott led five Hawks in double figures with 19 points. QU scored on 21 of 29 possessions and shot 66 percent (19 of 29) in the second half. Caitlynn Daniels led four Drury players in double figures with 23 points.

Boyd said the only half this season that equaled Saturday’s second half was the first half of a Dec. 13 loss to Grand Valley State, ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Hawks trailed 28-24 at halftime in that one before losing 73-58.

“I thought we played a darned good first half against Grand Valley,” Boyd said. “I will say that second half today is what took us. We locked into the defensive plan.”