Epic second-half rally for QU women falls narrowly short in GLVC setback against UIndy

QUINCY — It was nearly a comeback for the ages.

After playing arguably its worst half of the season and trailing by 29 points two minutes into the third quarter Thursday night, the Quincy University women’s basketball team appeared headed toward a lopsided defeat at the hands of the University of Indianapolis.

Instead, the Hawks put together a stunning and unexpected rally that saw them briefly take the lead with six minutes remaining before a 3-pointer by Liv Becker with 23.5 seconds left snapped a 66-66 tie to enable the Greyhounds to escape with a 71-68 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Pepsi Arena.

QU was unable to get a quality look at a potential game-tying a 3-point try on its penultimate possession and was forced to settle for an 8-foot jumper by Cymirah Williams that left it trailing 69-68 with only 5.8 seconds to go.

After a timeout advanced the ball to midcourt, Elana Wells was able to corral a tipped inbounds pass in the backcourt and dribble all but 1.3 seconds off the clock before being fouled and sinking two free throws to account for the final margin.

A desperation heave from the volleyball line in front of the scorer’s table by Mariann Blass as time expired fell well short to send the Hawks to their third straight loss and drop them to ninth in the GLVC’s point rating system, which determines the eight teams advancing to the conference tournament.

In the end, however, it was a 16-point first half that did in QU.

“I think what happens is we come out and we play tense, we play tight, we play not to screw up instead of just playing loose,” Hawks coach Courtney Boyd said. “And then when’s there’s nothing to lose, we play our game.

“We went from four assists in the first half to 16 for the game. We only turned the ball over three times in the second half, and we outrebound them 20-14. Right there is our game plan — take care of the basketball, move the ball and get open shots, and grab big rebounds.

“If I had an answer to that, I would hope that we never have a first half like that again.”

QU missed three point-blank shots on its first possession after winning the opening tip and that proved to be a harbinger of things to come. It made just 8 of 34 field goal attempts (23.5 percent) and turned the ball over 10 times in a dreadful first half.

By repeatedly working the ball inside for high-percentage shots and scoring 17 points off turnovers, Indianapolis sprinted to a 25-12 lead after one quarter and increased it to 41-16 at the half despite scoring just two points in the final five minutes.

The Greyhounds went up 46-17 two minutes into the second half and appeared to be cruising to an easy victory.

Then the Hawks flipped a switch.

Janiece Dawson drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run. After Becker hit two short jumpers and Jada Patton scored on a transition layup to push Indianapolis’ advantage to 54-34, QU again put on the clamps defensively and scored the final 12 points of the quarter to pull within 54-46.

Suddenly, it was a ballgame.

“Coming off the bench, my role is to be a spark and to bring energy to my teammates, whether it’s getting the rebound, taking a charge or hitting a big three when needed,” said Dawson, a 5-foot-9 junior who sank three long-range shots in the third quarter and finished with 17 points, four assists and two blocked shots.

“The team on the floor in the second half is who we’re supposed to be.”

The Hawks then scored the opening eight points of the fourth period — the last two on free throws by Dawson after she was fouled on a drive to the rim — to cap an amazing 37-8 run that knotted the score at 54-all.

After Jada Haines hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, her only made basket on 11 tries, Blass was fouled making a 12-footer and sank the free throw. Seconds later after a defensive stop, Dawson drained two more free throws to put QU on top 59-57 with 6:13 left.

“That was a 31-point swing in about 12 minutes of basketball,” Boyd said. “That’s what we’re capable of.”

Forward Jada Patton, who had been held in check after a solid first half, then worked inside for a basket and then sank two free throws on the ensuing possession to put Indianapolis up 61-59 at the 5:21 mark.

A turnover and a couple of missed close-in shots prevented the Hawks from retaking the lead. They tied it for the final time at 66-66 with 41.8 seconds left when Williams hit two free throws after being fouled on a back door lob pass.

Becker then answered with her only 3-pointer of the night, and QU was unable to answer when its offensive set unraveled, and it was only able to get Williams’ two-pointer with under six seconds to go.

“We had three options,” Boyd said. “Unfortunately, our timing was off on the first cut, and it was off for the rest of the play. We didn’t get the look we wanted, and it took a lot more time than it should have.”

Williams, limited to just four points in the first half, finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds and Blass scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half for the Hawks, who shot 59 percent from the field and outscored the Greyhounds 52-30 after intermission.

Wells led all scorers with 20 points for Indianapolis and Patton finished with 18.

With its 10th home loss in 14 games, QU dropped to 9-15 overall and 8-10 in the GLVC. Indianapolis snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 12-11 and 9-8.

The Hawks host Lewis, tied atop with the GLVC with Drury, Saturday afternoon.

“If we stop digging ourselves a hole, we’re a pretty good team,” Boyd said. “We need to be the second-half team we were (Thursday night) for a full game against Lewis.”