GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. QUINCY -- Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center -- Lebanon, Ill.

WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
QUINCY SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 17)--The McKendree University women's basketball team returns to the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on Thursday to play the first of three straight home games. The Bearcats will host Quincy University in a pivotal Great Lakes Valley Conference Central Division match-up Thursday with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m. The game will also air live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree. 

McKendree picked up a big GLVC road victory Monday night with a 69-65 decision at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats let a 13-point, first-quarter lead slip away but turned up the heat in the closing minutes on both ends of the floor. Jordan Heberg sank two free throws with just under a minute remaining to give McKendree the lead for good at 65-64. The Bearcats then forced the Prairie Stars into three missed shots in the last 60 seconds as McKendree hit three more free throws to seal the win. The Bearcats moved back to the .500 mark on the season at 7-7 while improving to 3-4 in GLVC play. 

The conference is employing a new ratings system in 2017-18 to determine the eight teams who will qualify for the GLVC Tournament March 1-4 in Edwardsville, Ill. Monday's win moved McKendree back into the No. 8 spot in the 15-team conference rating. More than half the league games remain before teams will know their final ranking following the last games to be played Feb. 24. 

In the latest GLVC statistical report, McKendree continues to be one of the top rebounding teams in the league. The Bearcats currently sit in fifth in the GLVC in rebounding offense (38.1 RPG), while holding down the No. 3 spot in both rebounding defense (33 RPG) and rebounding margin (+5.1 RPG). Jordan Morton has played a big part in the Bearcats' success on the boards. Morton has moved up to sixth in the conference in rebounding at 7.7 RPG. Over her last four games, Morton has averaged 10.8 rebounds per contest, and has registered all three of her double-digit rebounding efforts of the year during that span. She matched a season-high with 12 rebounds in the Bearcats' win at UIS on Monday. 

Heberg continues to lead the Bearcats in scoring at 12.3 PPG. She also ranks seventh in the conference in free throw percentage, hitting 81.6 percent of her tries from the charity stripe. Shauniera Wilson (Springfield, Ill./Southeast) ranks second in the GLVC in blocked shots per game at 1.8. Callie Pohlman still holds down spots in the GLVC top 10 in both assists (eighth at 3.1 APG) and steals (tied for eighth at 2.0 SPG).

Following Thursday's game with Quincy, McKendree will have a week off to prepare for William Jewell College. The Bearcats and Cardinals will meet on Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in the Statham Center. McKendree will close out its three-game home stand against the University of Southern Indiana on Jan. 27 at 1 p.m.

ABOUT QUINCY UNIVERSITY
The Hawks enter Thursday's game with McKendree at 6:10 overall and 2-5 in the GLVC. Quincy sits in the No. 14 spot in the GLVC women's basketball rankings. The Hawks pulled out a 75-73 victory Monday night at Maryville University, thanks to a game-winning lay-up by Michaela Gronewold as time expired. Anika Webster led Quincy with 19 points, while Jessie Rabas added 14 points in the win. 

Webster is the only Quincy player averaging in double figures at 16.4 PPG. She ranks fifth in the GLVC in scoring as well. Alexa Low is the Hawks' leading rebounder at 5.3 RPG. Gronewold has dished out 55 assists in 16 games and is sixth in the conference in assists per game at 3.4 APG. Rabas leads all GLVC players in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 52.2 percent of her tries beyond the arc. 

Quincy scratched out a 64-61 win over McKendree in the only meeting of the 2016-17 season between the two squads on Jan. 5, 2017 at the Statham Center. Ellie Pusheck (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) led the Bearcats with 15 points while Amber Alexander (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) added 11 points. 

The teams will meet one more time this season in the regular-season finale on Feb. 24 in Quincy, Ill.