In the final day of the Hansen – Spear Funeral Home Classic, the Hawks were tasked with taking on the undefeated Winona State Warriors out of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Despite having a ten point advantage at the halftime break, the Warriors came back to win in overtime by the score of 65-62.
A low scoring opening quarter saw the Hawks take a 7-4 lead on a Beth Matas Martin 3-pointer with a little over three minutes left. Grace Flanagan hit back-to-back baskets to extend the lead to a seven point margin with a minute and forty seconds left. WSU went on a small run to get it back to a one possession game as the quarter expired.
An 11-0 run by Kaci Bailey's team over the middle portion of the frame gave the Hawks a sizable double digit lead. The Warriors cut into the lead as time winded down in the half and saw QU take an eight point advantage into the locker room.
The Warriors appeared to make some adjustments defensively as Quincy was held to only 9 points in the quarter. WSU was able to cut the lead to a single basket heading into the final stanza.
Winona State took their first lead, since the 5:15 mark of the opening quarter, early in the fourth quarter on a Lauren Fech lay-up. Alex Dornfield followed that up with a basket of her own to give WSU a four point margin. The lead grew to 6 with three minutes remaining. In the final 20 seconds, Matas Martin hit two big shots for the Hawks. The first one got the Hawks to within a point. After Fech made one of two free throws, Matas Martin hit a driving floater to the ballgame and sent it into overtime.
"That's big shot Beth – she hit two big baskets to send us into overtime," Bailey told Craig Sesker of the Quincy Herald – Whig after the game. "For her to make back-to-back shots was really clutch for us."
Beginning the extra stanza tied at 51, the Hawks took the first lead with a Neves jumper to make it 53-51. WSU proceeded to go on an 8-1 run to take the 59-54 lead with two minutes left in the period. The final two minutes, QU would get within a possession, but the Warriors made clutch free throws to seal the door and win the Hansen – Spear Funeral Home Classic.
Game Leaders
Kealani Neves: 17 points (off the bench)
Beth Matas Martin: 16 points
Sarah Nelson: 15 points
Emma Knipe: 7 points, 10 rebounds
All – Tournament Team
Sarah Nelson
Beth Matas Martin
Lauren Fech
Naomi McDaniel
Jordan Lewis
Most Outstanding Player: Alex Dornfeld
Original source can be found here.
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