LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's basketball began a two-game homestand here Thursday evening and saw a late-game lead evaporate as Quincy University closed the game by scoring the final four points of its 51-48 victory over the Bearcats in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the setback, McKendree falls to 2-12 overall and 1-6 in the GLVC, while Quincy improves to 6-11 overall and 2-7 in the league.
 
Second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) recorded her fourth straight double-digit scoring effort as she tallied a team-high 14 points, including scoring nine of them in the second half. In addition, Breden's 14 points, redshirt senior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) had her best offensive showing of the season as she scored 12, including going 7-for-10 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) added eight points and five rebounds on the night.
 
The Bearcats trailed 45-44 with 2:34 left in the game, before a lay-up by sophomore guard Ashley Schloer (O'Fallon, Ill./St. Cloud State) gave the Bearcats a 46-45 lead with 2:20 remaining.
 
Maddie Spagnolia hit two free throws just 11 seconds after Schloer's lay-up to help the Hawks retake the lead at 47-46. On the next trip down court, Bearcat second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, lll./Jerseyville Community) was fouled and she stepped to the line and made two free throws with 1:52 left to give McKendree a 48-47 lead.
 
On the Hawks' ensuing possession, Marta Rivera missed a lay-up and Schloer collected the board, but the Bearcats would turn the ball over on their trip down the floor and that turnover led to two free throws by Regan Loconte with 1:20 remaining in the game to give QU a 49-48 lead.
 
The Bearcats would misfire on two consecutive treys over the next 72 seconds and the Hawks would use two free throws by Spagnola with four seconds left to push their lead to 51-48.
 
Sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) would get one last chance to send the game into overtime, but her three-pointer with about one second left fell short to seal Quincy's victory.
 
Fortune, who entered the game averaging a team-leading 13.4 points per game, was held without a field goal and scored a season low two points as she was 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-5 from three-point line. Fortune also entered the game tied for third in the league in 3-pointers made per game at 2.6.

The Bearcats offense struggled to shoot the ball in Thursday's game as they shot 23.5 percent (12-for-51) from the field and was just 2-for-18 (11.1 percent) from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Quincy shot just 35 percent from the field and 22 percent from the 3-point line. 

Sarah Nelson led the way for Quincy with a game high 17 points, while Dami Adeyinka added 10 points and Emma Knipe tallied seven points and a game-high 16 rebounds as the Hawks finished the game with a 46-28 edge on the boards. 

Quincy jumped in front 7-4 just six-plus minutes in the opening quarter, before the Bearcats scored four straight points to take an 8-7 lead following a lay-up from redshirt junior guard Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) with two minutes left in the quarter. The Hawks' Nelson would score lay-up just 21 seconds after Froebe's basket to retake the lead at 9-8 and then two free throws by Knipe with one second left in the quarter gave QU an 11-8 lead. 

In the opening quarter, the two teams combined to shoot 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from the field as the Bearcats were just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from the field, while QU was just 4-for-13 (31 percent) from the field. 

Quincy would push its lead to as much as six points at 18-12 just three minutes into the second quarter, before the Bearcats used an 8-2 run keyed by six points from Diekhoff to tie the game at 20 with 3:21 left in the period. 

The Hawks, though, came right back and scored six of the final seven points of the quarter to take a 26-21 lead at the half. 

Unlike the first two quarters, the third quarter belonged to the Bearcats as they outscored the Hawks 14-11 to drop QU's lead to 37-35 heading to the final quarter of action. In the quarter, the Bearcats used an 8-0 run after Quincy jumped in front 35-27 nearly five minutes into the quarter to tie the game at 35. Six of the eight points by the Bearcats came at the free throw line, while the only field goal during the run came on a basket by Golden with 3:11 left in the period. Golden's basket brought the Bearcats within two at 35-33. 

Nelson would cap the scoring in the quarter on a lay-up with 58 seconds left to give QU its 37-35 lead after three quarters. 

Breden's basket just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter helped give the Bearcats a 38-37 lead, but that lead was shortlived as QU used a 6-2 run to push out to a 43-40 lead with 3:58 left in the game. The Bearcats wouldn't go away as they used a 4-1 run keyed by four free throws by Golden to tie the game at 44 with 2:44 remaining in the game. 

With the teams missing a combined 70 shots in the game, offensive rebounds were plentiful in the contest as both teams combined for 26 offensive boards. Quincy pulled down 15 of those offensive boards, while McKendree had 11. 

McKendree's defense forced Quincy into 21 turnovers that led to 22 points, while the Bearcats totaled a season low eight turnovers on the night. With its 21 forced turnovers, McKendree picked up a season high 13 steals for the game as Froebe tied a career high with four, whole Fortune picked up a career high three. Breden and Golden each had two in the game. 

The Bearcats also blocked four shots and made and shot a season high total in free throws as McKendree was 22-for-26 (84.6 percent) at the line. QU was also strong at the line as they were 15-for-18 (83.3 percent) from the line. The teams were whistled for a combined 44 fouls. 

McKendree will conclude its two-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 22 as they host the University of Illinois-Springfield (8-6 overall, 3-5 GLVC) for a 1 p.m. GLVC contest. The Prairie Stars picked up an 81-52 win over the Bearcats in the GLVC opener for both teams on Nov. 29. UIS suffered an 88-80 loss on Thursday at Southern Indiana.