Hawks need to show more competitive fire after falling in home opener to Bulldogs

QUINCY — Compete. If the Quincy University women’s basketball team will do that, first-year coach Kaci Bailey will be satisfied no matter the outcome.

Friday night’s 70-57 loss to Ferris State in the Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic at Pepsi Arena — the Hawks’ home opener — was less than satisfying.

Trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Hawks’ aggressive approach to the start of the third quarter allowed them to trim the deficit to seven after Dami Adeyinka’s runner with 6:24 to go in the frame. The Bulldogs stemmed the tide and pushed the lead back to 15 points going into the fourth quarter.

The Ferris State lead remained in double digits the rest of the way.

“I think we woke up,” Bailey said. “We competed and we responded, and then we got tired and relaxed. We’re just not talented enough right now that we can relax. So we have to compete better.”

It’s what the entire postgame locker room discussion centered around.

“If we focus on making sure we have a competitive edge every day — that’s not just games, that’s practice also — it’s going to translate onto the floor and be positive for us for sure,” junior forward Sarah Nelson said.

But it has to be sustained long-term.

The Hawks (0-3) trailed by seven points just four minutes into the game, gave up 20 points in the first quarter and struggled to respond when the deficit reached 18 points midway through the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Grace Flanagan, a layin by Nelson and couple of free throws over the final 2½ minutes of the half trimmed five points off the deficit and ignited a little hope.

A 9-2 run to start the second sustained the momentum briefly.

Five consecutive points by the Bulldogs — all off Hawks’ turnovers — nullified everything.

“We knew we started off flat,” said Flanagan, the sophomore guard who had 11 points and went 3 of 6 from 3-point range. “But we knew we had the people to pick it up and get into them at the start of the second half. We did get into them a little bit. Then we fell right back off.”

The slow start was as back-breaking as the second-half letdown.

“We got off to a slow start, and that’s hard for us,” Bailey said. “Since it’s not a veteran team, when we get done, it’s hard to dig ourselves out of a hole.”

The Hawks realize that and intend to make sure it doesn’t become a trend.

“We’re trying not to dig ourselves a hole,” said Nelson, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds. “We know we have to work on that. Effort and talking is really going to make a difference with that. It’s all things we can control, which is good.”

Marta Rivera led the Hawks with 14 points, going 2 of 4 from 3-point range as Quincy shot just 35 percent from beyond the arc. Overall, the Hawks shot 45.7 percent from the field, but just 53.3 percent from the free-throw line.

They also committed 21 turnovers, leading to 26 points for the Bulldogs.

“Way too many turnovers,” Bailey said.

A quick turnaround will give the Hawks the chance to make amends for that. They will face Winona State in the final game of the classic at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors beat McKendree 70-46 in Friday’s opening game.

“They shoot the ball well,” Bailey said. “They let it fly from the 3-point line. They have an extremely good help-side defense. We have to be active. We get too stagnant in everything we do. We want to wait for someone else to do it. We have to have better movement.

“We talk all the time about playing with pace and spacing. We got away from that tonight.”

It takes communication.

“That’s definitely something we’re working on,” Flanagan said. “We’re going to work on it as a team, and we can definitely do it.”

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