UW-Parkside, Drury, Lewis, and Southern Indiana all won on Friday and, in doing so, extended their GLVC Women’s Basketball Tournament run into the semifinals. It was the second day in a row at the Family Arena without an upset. The top three women’s teams all won by double digits, and Parkside held on in the final seconds to solidify the all-“chalk” semis.
Both the men and women play their semifinals games on Saturday. The men will play in the afternoon session starting at noon. The women’s tournament resumes at 6 p.m. Drury will take on Parkside first. In the night cap, Lewis will play Southern Indiana.
#4 UW-Parkside 65, #5 Quincy 61
While it looked early like Parkside would roll, Quincy chased down the Rangers and stayed within striking distance to have a shot to win in the game’s final seconds. Parkside ran up a 13-point lead midway through the first half, but the Hawks reeled them back in and went to the break tied 33-33.
In the second half, the Rangers’ lead was never higher than 8 points, but they never relinquished their advantage. Kristin Conniff scored 4 of her game-high 19 points in the final 17 seconds to seal the win.
The Hawks lost depsite three players making it into double figures. Most impressively, Anika Webster scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double off the bench.
#1 Drury 80, #8 Indianapolis 65
Drury and Indianapolis was a much more competitive game than the final score would indicate. There were nine lead changes and 10 ties in total. UIndy took a 2-point lead into halftime, but in the second half Drury took the lead with just over 14 minutes to play and never gave it back.
Even while losing by 15 points, the game’s top performer was the Greyhounds’ Nicole Anderson. Anderson scored 22 points off 9-of-11 shooting and had 9 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.
Drury advanced thanks in large part to First-Team All-Conference selection Sanayika Shields and her 18-point, 11 -rebound, 7-assist game.
#2 Lewis 78, #7 Maryville 63
Lewis entered the tournament as the second seed in the GLVC tournament, but ranked as the No.2 team in the country after a 27-1 record in the regular season. Hence the surprise and growing tension that built in the Family Arena when Maryville — 15-13 overall entering the game — had a lead with less nine minutes left. Then, at the 8:30 mark the carriage turned back into a pumpkin. Lewis went on a 16-3 run over the next two minutes and cruised to the finish. Maryville shot just 27 percent in the second half.
Lewis had five players in double figures. Maryiah Brawner-Henley recorded a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jess Reinhart also cracked the 20-point mark.
#3 Southern Indiana 77, #6 Missouri- St. Louis 65
UMSL shot 56 percent in the second half of the final game Friday, but Southern Indiana shot 59 percent and they were able to hold their double-digit first half lead. Southern Indiana finished the first half on a 14-3 run to build what would prove to be that insurmountable lead.
UMSL’s senior guard Alexis Lawrence scored a game-high 20 points and made four of the five 3-pointers the Tritons made as a team.
Four of Southern Indiana’s five starters scored in double figures and every active player scored.
(Photo Credit: Tim Kaiser)
