Hawks taking good vibes with them into GLVC Tournament after winning home finale

QUINCY — Karsyn Stratton felt the vibes.

“I got here and I was loose and I was like, ‘Let’s have some fun today,’” she said.

Quincy University women’s basketball coach Courtney Boyd felt that, too.

‘I looked at the team and I said, ‘I feel bad for whoever steps in the gym today because you guys are ready,’” Boyd said.

Ready to punctuate the regular season in style. Ready to give the seniors a proper sendoff. And ready to roll into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with confidence.

The Hawks did all of that with their 79-69 victory over Indianapolis on Saturday at Pepsi Arena. The victory guaranteed Quincy the No. 3 seed for the GLVC Tournament, which begins Thursday at Hyland Arena on the Lindenwood University campus in St. Charles, Mo., and marked the most regular-season victories in nearly a decade.

Quincy is 22-7 and went 16-4 in GLVC play, nearly matching the 2015-16 team’s 23-win regular season. That crew won twice in the GLVC Tournament and finished with a 25-6 record.

“This victory is going to help give us momentum going into the tournament,” QU junior forward Chomp Danso said.

Plenty of confidence comes with it, too.

“A ton,” senior guard Karsyn Stratton said with the Hawks scheduled to face sixth-seeded Missouri S&T at 8:15 p.m. Friday in the GLVC quarterfinals. “We know we can win. We can play with any team in the conference. We just have the confidence in each other every single day that we can go win.”

That confidence was tested by back-to-back losses to Maryville and Lewis, but the Hawks never doubted their ability or cohesiveness. They put both on display in the first quarter Saturday, scoring 27 points and locking in defensively thereafter.

UIndy scored just 10 points in the second quarter and trailed by double digits throughout the second half.

“When our defense sets the tone, we have a lot more success because we put a lot less pressure on ourselves offensively,” Boyd said. “When we’re able to get stops and we’re able to get rebounds, it helps the flow of our offense a ton.”

That wasn’t exactly the case in the first quarter when the Greyhounds scored 20 points and trailed by just seven.

“We forgot to rebound,” Boyd said. “That’s what hurt us there.”

The Hawks did a better job clearing the boards and got everyone involved offensively. Quincy shot 52.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range, which helped overcome committing 22 turnovers.

“When we start fast, we feel like we’re going to play our best,” Stratton said.

Stratton matched her career high with 19 points, knocking down 8 of 10 field goals and 2 of 3 3-pointers to go with four steals. She also scored 19 points against Truman State as a junior.

“Karsyn takes these types of moments seriously,” Boyd said. “She played one of the best games she’s had all season.”

Nicole McDermott added 15 points and five assists for the Hawks, and Danso finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. All six seniors played and scored in their final home game.

“It was a reward for everyone being willing to play for the person next to them,” Stratton said.

That mentality must continue into the postseason.

“This put us in a good spot to feel good moving forward,” Boyd said.

Now the prep work begins for a run at a ring.

“We’ve had a plan for everybody,” Boyd said. “Now we’ve seen everybody and we have a chance to adjust our plan. This team understands what it takes. We’ve put ourselves in enough situations where we’ve been able to get through that adversity where we’re in a good spot to make a big run.”