QUINCY, Ill. -- It was only fitting that a strong finishing kick Saturday got the Lady Miners into the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
UMR, which has essentially been playing playoff games since the first of February, outscored Quincy 18-5 over the final three-plus minutes of play and came away with a 75-61 win that clinched a spot in next week’s GLVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind.
The victory gives UMR the No. 3 seed in the GLVC West, due to its sweep over Southern Indiana which finished 10-9 in league play as well, and sets up a date Friday with No. 24-ranked Northern Kentucky at 2:30 p.m..
The Lady Miners led for much of the game, although the teams did swap the lead several times during the early stages of the contest. Quincy took a 31-29 lead on a three-pointer by Janette Burgin, but a free throw by Jennifer Pena and a long two-pointer by Josie Polk late in the first half gave UMR a 32-31 lead at the intermission.
Baskets by Nicole Dierking and Katie Bunge pushed that lead to five early in the second half before the Lady Hawks tied the game at 36 on a pair of free throws by Burgin. UMR regained the lead again two possessions later when Jaime Forsberg knocked down a three-pointer.
Pena’s three-pointer at the 12:58 mark gave UMR a 48-42 lead, but Quincy kept chipping away and got to within one on two different occasions. Jessica Keller’s three-point basket with 10:07 left made it 50-49, but Bunge and Dierking scored to extend the Lady Miner lead back to five.
After Jaime Forsberg hit a pair of free throws with 4:13 to play, Alex Wieser converted a three-point play to get the Lady Hawks back to within one again at 57-56. But a basket by Dierking followed by a lay-in by Tamara McCaskill with just over three minutes left got the game back in control of the Lady Miners.
UMR had been struggling with the Lady Hawks’ offensive rebounding all afternoon, but started forcing one-and-done possessions for Quincy and making the Lady Hawks foul to extend the game. The Lady Miners answered the challenge by making 14-of-16 at the free throw line in the final 1:58 to clinch the win and a trip to Roberts Stadium.
The Lady Miners (17-10, 10-9 GLVC) were led by Bunge with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Dierking scored 15 and McCaskill and Forsberg finished with 11 apiece. Despite struggling from the floor, McCaskill went seven-of-eight at the line and added six rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
UMR shot 50 percent in the game and made 24-of-28 at the free throw line in the contest.
Quincy (16-11, 9-10 GLVC), which saw its season end with the loss Saturday, got 13 points from Keller but made only 35.8 percent of its shots for the day.
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