QU women unable to keep pace with Maryville in second half of GLVC loss

QUINCY — Despite a career-high scoring effort from junior guard Beth Matas Martin, the Quincy University women’s basketball team was unable to slow down Maryville in a 72-65 loss in Great Lakes Valley play Thursday night at Pepsi Arena.

The energy and effort both teams shared in the first quarter came as no surprise.

The Hawks were coming off a victory at William Jewell and were looking for their first back-to-back GLVC victories since the end of the 2015-16 season. Meanwhile, the Saints had endured a 26-day delay due to COVID-19 protocols, which included canceling a game against Quincy on January 2 in St. Louis.

The result of a fast-paced start was a tie at 23 at the end of the first quarter.

The Hawks came out crisp on their homecourt, going 10 of 14 from the field with six different players scoring. QU scored 12 of its 23 points in the paint. They also forced Maryville to extend defensively by going 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

Aside from Matas Martin’s two triples and 10 first-half points, senior guard Dami Adeyinka made three 3-pointers — her most in any game this season.

Just shy of six minutes to play in the second quarter, the Saints went on a 7-0 scoring run lasting four minutes to take a 34-29 lead. The Hawks responded and went on a 5-0 run behind a three-point play from junior Emma Knipe that beat the second quarter horn.

QU shot 50 percent from the field in the first half.

“I thought we played a really good first half,” QU coach Kaci Bailey said.

QU relied on its 3-point shooting to open up the second half and converted on three of its first five attempts. Senior guard Maddie Spagnola and Matas Martin scored 11 of the Hawks’ 14 third quarter points.

A Matas Martin 3-pointer followed by a layup from Spagnola allowed the Hawks to retake the lead 47-44 halfway through the third quarter. This was the last lead the Hawks saw as the Saints answered by assembling a 9-0 scoring run for a 53-47 edge.

Turnovers helped fuel Maryville’s offense. The Saints scored 26 points off the Hawks’ 13 turnovers.

“I thought we got a little bit fatigued in the second half, made some mental errors, some turnovers, and lost some people in transition,” Bailey said. “They scored almost after every turnover that we had.”

Quincy, which averages nearly eight points per game at the free-throw line, didn’t make its first free throw of the game with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.

With a Taylor Kirby bucket, the Saints jumped ahead 62-52 in the fourth quarter, but it was not over yet.

A Matas Martin trey along with three forced turnovers allowed the Hawks to cut their deficit to 67-61.

With just under four minutes to play, the Hawks came out of a media timeout with a play for Matas Martin, who executed a reverse layup. Another late turnover by the Saints and a layup by Spagnola brought the Hawks within 67-65. Abby Weis drained a 3-point dagger to seal the deal for the Saints.

“We’re competing, we’re doing some good things, we just got to put in a complete 40 minutes a game,” Bailey said. “We can’t have those little mental lapses, and the fatigue. We have to learn to be mentally tough and push through some of that.”

Matas Martin finished with a career-high 23 points and seven assists in her second game back from quarantine.

“I felt like I was hot so I kept shooting,” Matas Martin said. “My teammates kept passing the ball to me making great assists, so it’s on them.”

The Hawks (5-9, 1-5 GLVC) will try to bounce back against Lindenwood at 1 p.m. Saturday at Pepsi Arena.