QU women’s basketball team uses closing kick to win fifth straight game after beating Upper Iowa

QUINCY — When the situation called for a collective deep breath, the Quincy University women’s basketball players knew they needed to take it.

“That’s what we did,” Hawks senior guard Nicole McDermott said.

Quincy called timeout with 5 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in regulation Saturday afternoon after Upper Iowa’s Lindsey Davis scored to give the Peacocks a 62-61 lead. It was Upper Iowa’s first lead of the game, and it turned out to be its only one.

The Hawks scored the game’s final 11 points to notch a 72-62 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Pepsi Arena. The Hawks have yet to drop a contest since the calendar turned to 2025, running their win streak to five straight games.

It’s their longest winning streak since a six-game stretch near the end of the 2015-16 season.

“We’ve had a lot of games this season where we’ve been close down the stretch,” McDermott said. “I think our experience has got us to that situation where we can be level headed. We know that we have what it takes (to close out games).”

Quincy (11-5, 5-2 GLVC) turned to its defense in the final half of the final quarter. After Upper Iowa’s go-ahead basket, the Hawks forced four turnovers and the Peacocks missed their last eight field goal attempts.

“We had to stick to the game plan,” Hawks coach Courtney Boyd said. “I told them we weren’t going to win the game in the last five minutes in one possession. We don’t have to do anything different than we’ve already done. We just have to get one more rebound, we have to get one more stop, and we’ll be able to put the ball in the hole.”

Quincy held the GLVC’s top scorer, Upper Iowa senior guard Mia Huberty, to 11 points. She entered the contest averaging 20.3 points per game and nearly three points per game more than her nearest competitor, Truman State’s Jordan Cunningham (17.7 ppg). The Hawks didn’t want a repeat of their early December visit to Fayette, Ia., when Huberty scored 38 points in the Peacocks’ 88-84 double overtime win.

“We took it a little personal, the way she played against us last time,” McDermott said.

It was McDermott who drew the defensive assignment on Huberty.

“I take a lot of pride in defense and that was my matchup,” McDermott said. “We were switching a lot. Honestly, it was our whole team that got stops. It took every single one of us.”

The Hawks also limited their opponents’ typical 3-point success. Upper Iowa, the GLVC’s best 3-point shooting team at a nightly clip of 40.1 percent, made only 5 of 16 attempts (31.3 percent). 

“Defense got us through that game,” McDermott said. “We got a lot of really big stops.”

Quincy junior forward Chomp Danso connected on two free throws to erase Upper Iowa’s brief lead. Danso finished with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds.

“I think we believed in each other. We followed our game plan. We knew exactly how we had to execute,” Danso said. “We ran our offense how we are supposed to run it, made shots and free throws. I think we trust in ourselves, and we trust in our coach.”

All five Quincy starters finished in double figures. Danso was joined by senior forward Cymirah Williams, senior guard Karsyn Stratton and sophomore guard Mariann Blass, who each had 14 points, and McDermott added 10.

Senior forward Kayla Bohr led Upper Iowa (7-8, 4-5 GLVC) with 19 points and Davis, a freshman guard, with 18.

Quincy hasn’t lost in almost a month since falling to nationally ranked Fort Hays State 73-60 on Dec. 20 in Hilo, Hi.

“I do feel like we’re in a great spot,” Boyd said. “Every team we’re going to see from here on out is a different game plan. We have to stick to the game plan, stay consistent, and I think we’re starting to believe in what we’re doing.”