Blass sparks fourth-quarter comeback as QU women erase 10-point deficit to win on road

BOLIVAR, Mo. — Trailing by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, the Quincy University women’s basketball team outscored Southwest Baptist 22-4 during the final 10 minutes and won 72-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Meyer Sports Center in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game.

The victory keeps the Hawks (7-12, 6-7 in the GLVC) in the race to qualify for the conference postseason tournament. They are tied with Missouri-St. Louis for eighth place, and the top eight teams qualify to play at Lindenwood University in March.

The fourth-quarter rally started with a 3-pointer by Mariann Bliss. After a Southwest Baptist turnover, Mikayla Huffine scored in the paint for the Hawks. The Bearcats missed two more shots, and Bliss hit another 3-pointer with 8:18 left to play. Another missed jump shot by the Bearcats led to Cymirah Williams’ basket that tied the score at 60 with 7:40 to go.

Southwest Baptist then turned the ball over and missed a shot, and Blass completed a 12-point run with a basket in the paint with 6:32 to play.

Claudia Vanzant made a free throw for the Bearcats at the 6:11 mark, but they didn’t score again until Vanzant split a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left in the game. Southwest Baptist didn’t score from the field in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over nine times.

Blass scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter. Kealani Neves scored 15 points in 17 minutes to lead the Hawks. Janiece Dawson and Cymirah Williams both scored 14 points for QU. Vanzant had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Southwest Baptist, which turned the ball over 23 times.