LEBANON, Ill. - The women's basketball team will hit the road this week as they will face Quincy University on Thursday, February 20th, and then at Upper Iowa on Saturday, February 22nd.
HISTORY SHOWCASE
Against Quincy, this will be the 15th all-time meeting between the two in-state programs, dating back to 2013. McKendree won each of the last three outings and has won seven of the last nine meetings. The series is tied evenly at 7-and-7 as each of the last six matchups was decided by six or fewer points.
A couple of days later, against Upper Iowa, it will be just the 7th meeting between the two. The two teams have split the last four games as the series as a whole is also tied at three wins a piece.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree split last week at 1-1, as they are keeping themselves in GLVC Tournament contention. They currently sit at 13-9 overall, with a 9-7 mark within the conference.
Against the national number 22-ranked Lewis University on Thursday, it was a low-scoring affair to begin the game where the Bearcats were able to muster up only six points to the Flyers' 11 in the first quarter. McKendree would finally get hot in the second quarter from a 16-2 run to put them up 22-19 at halftime. The Bearcats would keep on fighting their way into the third quarter, finding themselves up by just one heading into the final period of regulation. Still hanging on in the fourth quarter, McKendree would go cold in the final five minutes of action, with Lewis escaping with a narrow 56-51 win. Sophomore forward Baylie Parks (Lake Zurich, Ill.) led McKendree with 18 points and 11 rebounds along with a pair of assists, three steals, and a blocked shot. Freshman forward Kyra Taylor (Davenport, Iowa) contributed with a dozen points to go with four rebounds and a steal.
On Saturday against the University of Indianapolis, both teams would go at it to begin the game, not letting either side get too hot. In the second quarter, the Greyhounds ignited an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the match before a few minutes later, McKendree enacted on an 8-0 run themselves to obtain a comfortable 36-27 lead at halftime. Both sides would score evenly throughout the third period of play, and it was not until the Bearcats got hot once again with a 12-4 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 18. McKendree would win convincingly 79-64 at the end. Parks led McKendree in scoring in their second straight game with 24 points in the win on 11-for-17 shooting along with a game-high 11 rebounds and five assists, a block, and a career-high five steals. Kyra Taylor scored her 10th straight double-figure outing with 16 points on an efficient 5-for-9 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line while grabbing seven boards and dishing a trio of assists. Junior guard Chloe White (Brussels, Ill.) notched a career-high 15 points while also going a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe as she stole the ball three times and tallied two assists.
Parks remains a perfect 22-for-22 in double-digit scoring outputs with 11+ points in all games this season and has grabbed 6+ rebounds in all as many contests. Her 18.4 points per game leads the team and is good for second in the GLVC (24th in the nation) as her field goal percentage of 52.4% (34th in the nation) also places second in the conference, while her 10 double-doubles are a GLVC-best (27th in the nation). The sophomore's rebounding numbers are all top-four in the conference and include total rebounds per game (1st – 9.9), total rebounds (2nd – 218), defensive rebounds per game (2nd – 7.0), and offensive rebounds per game (4th – 3.0).
Kyra Taylor is having a phenomenal freshman season, especially as of late. She has scored in double-figures of 10+ points in 10 straight outings to give her a third-team-best scoring average of 11.5 points per game. Taylor also has pulled down 4+ rebounds in 10 straight games and 16 times overall.
As a team, their 45.4% field goal percentage is tied first [with Drury University] in the entire conference and is 13th in the nation. They also are placed in the top-four in the GLVC in free throw percentage (1st – 76.0), scoring offense (3rd – 73.2 ppg), three-point percentage defense (3rd – 28.6%), turnovers forced per game (3rd – 17.0), free throws made per game (4th – 14.8), and steals per game (4th – 8.6).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Quincy University | Thursday, February 20th, 5:30 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 74-68 on 2/8/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Quincy has been one of the best teams all season in the conference as they have been on a GLVC-best 14-game winning streak dating back to December 21st. They now sit at 20-5 overall and 14-2 in the conference.
The Hawks entail three double-figure scorers with graduate guard Nicole McDermott leading with 15.1 points a game while sophomore guard Mariann Blass and senior forward Cymirah Williams average 12.1 and 10.3 respectively. McDermott is a jack of all trades as she posts the eighth-best scoring in the GLVC wile dishing out 2.8 assists per game (10th) and grabbing 6.9 rebounds per contest (12th).
Like Parks, Williams is also one of the GLVC's better rebounders with 9.3 a game while solidifying herself in the conference in total rebounds (222) and defensive rebounds per game (7.3).
The Quincy team collectively has a strong presence in almost all areas of the game as they are top-two in the conference in free throws made per game (1st – 15.6), rebounding margin (1st – +12.9), defensive rebounds per game (1st – 30.8), total rebounds per game (1st – 45.2), blocks per game (2nd – 4.0), free throw attempts per game (2nd – 21.8), offensive rebounds per game (2nd – 14.4), scoring margin (2nd – 11.1), and scoring offense (2nd – 76.5 ppg).
Their rebounding margin (+12.9), defensive rebounds per game (30.8), and total rebounds per game (45.2) are all top-five in the nation.
Upper Iowa University | Saturday, February 22nd, 1:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: L, 66-79 on 3/7/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Upper Iowa has had an up-and-down season thus far as they split their last two outings in St. Louis 1-1 in a two-point win at Maryville University, followed by a 27-point loss at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The Peacocks are 11-12 on the season and 8-9 in the GLVC. They will go up against the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday before hosting McKendree on Saturday.
The Peacocks obtain the conference's leading scorer in senior guard Mia Huberty as she scores 18.5 points a night. She has scored in double figures in all but one of her 23 contests this season and has eclipsed the 20-point mark nine times. Her 44.0% conversion on field goal attempts places fifth in the GLVC.
Huberty's running mate, senior forward Helen Staley also dominates the GLVC in many ways. She passes out a fifth-best 3.4 assists per game while corralling 7.3 rebounds (9th) and swatting 0.9 shots (12th) per contest.
Upper Iowa as a team is top-three in the GLVC in three-point percentage (1st – 37.9%), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd – 1.10), defensive rebounds per game (2nd – 30.7), three pointers per game (2nd – 8.2), assists per game (3rd – 14.9), and fewest fouls per game (3rd – 14.7).
TUNE IN-FO
at Quincy University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Quincy]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Quincy]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Quincy]
at Upper Iowa University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Upper Iowa]
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