Cold-shooting third quarter dooms QU women

QUINCY — After opening up a five-point lead coming out of the half, the Quincy University women’s basketball team seemed to have the momentum to go on an even bigger run.

But Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Rockhurst hammered the glass as Quincy struggled to score for the remainder of the game, falling to Rockhurst 68-60 Thursday night at Pepsi Arena.

Rockhurst (7-8, 2-5 GLVC) went on an 8-0 run late in the third quarter as it built a large rebounding advantage, finishing with 37 boards to QU’s 25. Rockhurst also had 13 offensive rebounds as second chance points padded the lead.

“We came out a little dead and we didn’t make shots,” QU coach Kaci Bailey said, referring to the third quarter. “We were out rebounded by 12 and I can’t remember the last time we were out rebounded by 10 or more. That’s ‘want to’ and I thought they wanted it a little more than we did tonight.”

QU (6-9, 2-5 GLVC) played solid defense, forcing 26 Rockhurst turnovers, while committing only 13 turnovers itself. But Quincy couldn’t take advantage of Rockhurst’s mistakes.

“You’ve got to be able to score off forcing 26 turnovers and we didn’t. That’s on us,” Bailey said.

Despite a fourth quarter rally, the hole was too big for Quincy to dig out of.

“We were scrappy with our backs to the wall, but we have to have that effort for four quarters, not three,” she said.

Sarah Nelson led Quincy with 15 points. Ali Kamies led Rockhurst with 17.