#21 Quincy (22-5): 75
Southern Indiana (19-9): 69
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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team could not overcome a 14-point first-half deficit as it fell to No. 21 Quincy University, 75-69, in the quarterfinals of the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Basketball Championship Tournament Thursday night at the Ford Center.
Quincy (22-5) shot 65.2 percent from the field in the opening period and held USI to just 28.6 percent as it jumped out to a commanding 37-23 halftime advantage. The Lady Hawks used runs of 13-2 and 7-0 in the opening frame to gain the upper hand.
The Screaming Eagles (19-9) charged back in the second half, using an early 10-0 run to cut Quincy's advantage to 41-37 with 13:45 to play. Junior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe scored six of her 14 points in the spurt, while fellow classmate
Anna Hackert, who finished with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, added four points.
Junior guard Carly Bettencourt, however, drained a three-pointer to stop the Eagles' surge and give Quincy a seven-point advantage. Bettencourt, who had 18 points off the bench, scored on a layup to put the Hawks up 46-37 moments later; then sophomore guard Carly Beebe scored five straight points as Quincy reclaimed its 14-point advantage. Beebe finished with 20 points, 13 of which came in the first period.
Still, the Eagles kept chipping away at the deficit. Senior guard
Stephanie Carpenter, who became the 14th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a Bettencourt trifecta as USI closed to within 54-43 with 11 minutes to go.
Junior guard
Autumn Miller followed an O'Keefe bucket with a pair of free throws as USI closed to within seven (54-47) with just under 10 minutes to play. After the two teams traded blows, a basket by Carpenter and a layup by junior guard
Libby Ogden had the Eagles to within six points (61-55) with six minutes on the clock.
Less than three minutes later, Miller converted an old-fashioned three-point play as USI closed to the gap to 64-60. Miller, who finished with 11 points, four steals, and three assists, got a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, but USI could not capitalize as it committed one of its 10 turnovers moments later.
USI had another chance to make it a one possession game, but the Eagles' second straight turnover allowed the Hawks to maintain their four-point lead. With just over two minutes to play, Quincy senior guard Lucy Cramsey hit a jumper as the shot clock was about to expire to give the Hawks a 66-60 edge.
A missed basket on USI's next possession and a free throw by Cramsey essentially ended the Eagles' chances of an upset as Quincy, which was 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, held on for the six-point win.
USI, which likely saw its season come to a close with the loss, finished with four players in double-figures as Carpenter joined Hackert, O'Keefe, and Miller with 14 points and two assists. Carpenter, who, in all likelihood, played her final game in a USI uniform, finishes her career ranked 14th all-time at USI with 1,003 points. She also finishes her career with a school-record 194 career three-pointers.
Quincy advances to play Truman State University in the semifinals Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The No. 7 seeded Bulldogs (20-8) upset No. 11 and second-seeded Lewis University, 84-70, earlier in the evening. The No. 8 seed, Maryville University, also pulled off an upset over No. 6 and top-seed Drury University, 56-55, while the No. 4 seed, University of Indianapolis, defeated the No. 5 seed, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 78-74, to begin the day.
