Hawks get third straight win heading to first place McKendree later this week

QUINCY – Passion and persistence paid off for Cymirah Williams and her Quincy University teammates Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Arena.

Williams led the Hawks with a 20-point, 15 rebound effort, but hit what she called an “up and over” inside move that led to a three-point play and a 73-60 win over William Jewell in Great Lakes Valley conference play.

Williams made the basket, was fouled and then screamed and slapped the floor before going to the line and sinking the free throw.

She had been battling inside all game and ended up shooting 9 of 23 from the field. But while she was getting buckets to fall as part of a nine-point fourth quarter, she wanted to talk about her team’s defense.

“That gave us some momentum, but we really needed to get back on defense,” Williams said. “All they wanted to do was shoot the three, so we had to get out there on them.

“My shots weren’t falling, but that’s okay. They’ll fall. We just gotta get after them on defense.”

That was music to QU Coach Courtney Boyd’s ears as she said defense was not as important as it should have been to not only Williams, but the entire team, early in the season.

“They are starting to understand that points aren’t easy to come by and sometimes you can’t control what’s falling,” Boyd said. “If (Williams) is the one buying into defense, then her teammates are going to follow. That’s a huge step.”

The Hawks built a 35-18 halftime lead as Jewell (5-16, 3-12 in the GLVC) shot only 25 percent from the field. QU’s Mariann Blass hit three three-pointers in the first half as part of her 13-point performance.

While Quincy (9-12, 8-7 in the GLVC) continued dominating inside during the third quarter, their shooting went cold. The Cardinals finally started to click late in the third and were able to cut the deficit to three at 51-48 early in the fourth.

That’s when Williams finally got her shots to fall made her inside move with 5:30 to play. Then she scored on back-to-back possessions to spark a late 9-0 QU run in the game’s final three minutes.

Boyd said holding off the Jewell rally was a good sign as the Hawks picked up their third straight win heading into Thursday’s matchup with GLVC-leading McKendree in Lebanon.

“This is a great spot to be in,” Boyd said. “We needed everything that happened in November and December in order to get us where we are. This team has really turned the corner and we’re hoping to keep that momentum against a couple of the top teams in the conference.”