Although you finished a chapter, doesn't mean the book is over!!

Saturday, March 12, 2011. At tip-off everyone could tell nerves were in the air, not knowing what team would show up for the second round game against Wisconsin-Parkside. But as soon as the ball tipped off a 10-0 run was the outcome. Everything seemed as if it would be okay. That was... until our luck turned very quickly. Parkside slowly got back into it and eventually took the lead over for the rest of the night. Unfortunately that means there is no second shot at this thing.

“It's weird...you know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on, just for one more second...just so it can hurt a little more.”

After an entire season of new records and firsts for our girls, it has come to a quick end. Although it may hurt now, we must remember those things that were conquered and those things that we accomplished. Many see what they want, and if they don't achieve, they forget everything they gained from the experience. I am very proud of everything these girls have been through this season, and how they have taken this team to a new level. Life is truly a learning tool, you don't believe it when you just fell to the ground, but it is. I don't think everyone on the team knows it now, but the loss that we endured only ignites a larger fire for the future! It may not be with basketball or any sport. It is a fire to be the best you can in anything, it is a fire that helps build a person's character. Many people say winning is all that matters, but what is the big picture? Why are we in this world together? Whatever the answer is, we must learn that we are all in this together!

So I want to personally say I am very proud of our team! I am thankful for the memories! I am blessed to know every single person who was a part of this run. I know there is only a future of success for all the girls, and happy to say I was a part of it.

Division II Woman's Basketball 2011 National Championship Bracket.

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-women/d2/2011

Semifinals bring Sadness, BUT second chances bring Hope!

After a very tough evening on March 5 playing in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) against the University of Indianapolis. It now is time to reevaluate and respond to the 81-72 loss. It was for sure hard for everyone to take because this wasn't expected by anyone in the building, except Indy fans. Everyone else thought we'd be playing in the championship game. Which was part of the problem that caused the loss. Although the night brought mostly pain and sadness, there are some bright points, beginning with the 2011 selection show held this evening! We were selected Second in the region and will now travel to Houghton, Michigan to play Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday March, 11 in the first round.

Saturday evenings loss to Indy was just as rough as the game against Parkside three weeks prior to this game. If you were at the game, you saw clearly that rebounding was a major cause of the loss. Also adding defense, aggression, and mentality to the mix. Altogether it wasn't our game or our night, the beauty of this is that there is always things to learn from with things like this. It's time to find Quincy University Woman's Basketball Again!! We now will use the pain of the loss, to bring it this weekend. Please support us as we take it one day at a time in our quest for the unimaginable during this post-season:)

Senior Night...Good Night...Great Season...24-2 Feeling Good!

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. 

~William Shakespeare, Othello

 With senior night in the air, and excitment taking over. Things just didn't seem right, due to the unfortunate circumstance of our missing head coach, JD Gravina. Which is exactly what this quote has to do with. Although we have been put through many trials through the entire season, we still have found a way around these obsticles. Finishing the last six games 5-1, and also finishing the regular season with the best record in Quincy University history at 24-2!!

In the last six games we beat out University of Illinois-Springfield twice, St. Joseph twice, and Lewis Univerisity on senior night. And having one frustrating loss to Wisconsin-Parkside. Although these last games have truely tested our mental, physical, and emotional strength, we have conqured our battles and came out victorious. Dealing with the injuries of Ali Schwagmeyer, Darla Gatshenberger and also the minor set backs on Courtney Shuman, Steph Wagner, Jessica Vaughn, and Daryle Goldie. This season has been all about will power, and with the strong character and personalities, it was never a question of wheather we'd make it through or not!

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." -Michael Jordan

Enough with the quotes though, with the regular season coming to a close, and every girl stepping up and playing their role, this has yet to be one of the best team experiences I've been apart of! Moving into post-season, we are ranked 13th in the Nation, 1st in the Region, and 1st in the GLVC! Our next challage begins Saturday Feburary the 26th at the Conference Tournament.

Come and Support and Love and Join ALL THE FUN!!

Moving on up!

With last weeks rankings coming out and us being put at 16th, the girls still feel we have much to prove. Two games on the road would be the perfect opportunity to do so. Heading out on a four day road trip, we knew it would be a long and important trip to show what we are made of.

Thursday evening we came out with weak intensity. Moving slow, but understanding what needed to be changed. Only leading my three at half time, we did the same ol' same ol' halftime routine! Talked it over, understood what needed to be done, and followed through with it. Came out the second half taring into Wesleyan and outscoring them by 13 points!

Seven girls got major minutes, and four of those girls in double figures! With Kassidy Shuman and Jessica Vaughn leading the way. Kassidy came out on fire, ending perfect from the three point line, shooting 5-5 and finishing with 19 points and also handing out 7 assists. JJ did her thing, finishing with 18 points and 9 rebounds! Daryle Goldie and Ali Schwagmeyer both finished with 14 points apiece. Ali also had 6 assists and 4 rebounds. We grabbed 40 rebounds as a team and dominated the second half!

After enjoying a nice Friday full of practice, food, and fun. We were back to focusing and preparing for the Bellarmine girls. We traveled 2 hours to Louisville, Kentucky and suited up for the 2:00pm game in their arena, where the Knights have only lost one home game this season. Well OVIOUSLY they haven't played Quincy University in their arena either:) Although the game started off rough, with all odds against us. Not being in our home gym, tired from the trip, sick players (Linsay Henke), and sore and hurt players (Non-ya business who) and shots were not falling as they do in pepsi arena. That just added intuition and changed the game dramatically in the second half. As the team dropped 12 three-pointers alone! As the knights came within 3 points with about 6 minutes left in the game. A couple bad calls, and a few confidence boosting shots fired a 14-0 run late in the second half! That run pretty much ended the game as a close good game, to a "Hey I just dominated you" game! Once again we had major contrabutions from our 3 point starts, Steph Wagner (7-10 three point FG, 25 points, 7 assists, and a season high 3 rebouds). Daryle Goldie (6-8 three point FG, 18 points, 5 assists, and also 3 rebounds). Ali Schwagmeyer was the contributor (13 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and also adding 2 steals). The last player to finish with double digits was Courtney Shuman (17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals). Kassidy Shuman also hit 3 three points helping the cause for a GLVC conference record. Finishing with 16 total 3's and breaking the previous record of 15 by Bellarmine themselves!

The season keeps rolling and the girls keep rolling. Keep following and supporting as we travel again this week to play St. Joseph's Thursday in Rensselaer, Indiana. And a close game on Saturday Feb 5, against University of Illinois-Springfield at 1pm!

Hey...how about I update you all on some WINS!!!!!

After a long winter break, we are officially back into action...in the classroom that is! With school starting up, you'd think we would have a tough time with the transition, but that doesn't affect our girls play:) The wins just keep on coming, picking up the last 5 games with an average winning margin of 16.6 points a game. You would think this is okay for the Lady Hawks this season, but these wins were against some of the best teams in the conference. They include 72-61 win over Wisconsin-Parkside, a 92-81 win over Southern Indiana, 87-67 game against University of Missouri Saint-Louis, clobbering Rockhurst 74-56, and picking up the win this Saturday against rival Drury, 91-68!

So now you ask yourself, "what in the world, how  are the girls so good", let me just show you how. Hawks last five wins by the numbers.


Wisconsin-Parkside: FG%- 37.8%
                                 Rebounds- 29
                                    Offensive- 10
                                    Defensive- 19
                                 Steals- 8
 Players of the Game: Ali Schwagmeyer- 37 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.
                                 Courtney Shuman- 28 minutes, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
  Quiet Star: Jessica Vaughn- 28 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks.
                                                  Record: 13-1; 5-1 GLVC

Southern Indiana: FG%- 50%
                            Rebounds- 28
                               Offensive- 4
                               Defensive- 24
                            Steals- 8
 Players of the Game: Ali Schwagmeyer- 36 minutes, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals.
                                 Steph Wagner- 36 minutes, 20 points, 3 assists.
  Quiet Star: Daryle Goldie- 25 minutes, 14 points, 3pt FG: 75%
                                                 Record: 14-1; 6-1 GLVC


Missouri Saint-Louis: FG%- 50%

                                     Rebounds- 43

                                       Offensive- 15

                                       Defensive- 28

                                     Steals- 11

 Players of the Game: Ali Schwagmeyer- 31 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.

                                 Steph Wagner- 32 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals. 

                                 Courtney Shuman- 24 minutes, 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals. 

  Quiet Star: Linsay Henke- 19 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks.

                                                 Record: 15-1; 7-1 GLVC

Rockhurst: FG%- 49.1%

                   Rebounds- 39

                      Offensive- 9

                      Defensive- 30

                   Steals- 1

 Players of the Game: Ali Schwagmeyer- 31 minutes, 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists.

                                 Jessica Vaughn- 26 minutes, 4 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists.

  Quiet Star: Courtney Shuman- 26 minutes, 12 points, 7 rebounds. 

                                                 Record: 16-1; 7-1 GLVC

Drury: FG%-52.9%

            Rebounds- 45

               Offensive- 13

               Defensive- 32

            Steals- 10

 Players of the Game: Ali Schwagmeyer- 29 minutes, 27 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals.

                                 Steph Wagner- 29 minutes, 25 points, 7 assists, 2 steals. 

  Quiet Stars: Courtney Shuman- 27 minutes, 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 blocks.

                     Kassidy Shuman- 26 minutes, 13 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks. 

                                                 Record: 17-1; 8-1 GLVC

Dominating ball and playing like a team is the way we roll. Thanks for all your support thus far this season! We play next January 27th in Owensboro, Ky against Kentucky Wesleyan at 5:15. Keep following for future updates and help us keep rolling to victory!

You Win Some...Then You Win Some MORE!!!

After break we come in knowing we'd have a long stretch of good basketball, and so far we have lived up to those teams. Taking on University of Indianapolis on January 4th, we out-rebounded the Grayhounds by 10 which ultimately lead us to a 10 point win, 95-85! Making this game a COMPLETE team effort, we had 8 girls playing 15 minutes at least. Ali Schwagmeyer and Courtney Shuman both dropped 20 points at least, and Jessica Vaughn, Kassidy Shuman, and Steph Wagner all added 11 points. Not only did we have girls putting points on the board, everyone who wasn't in the game helped those playing by yelling defensive schemes! It was all around a good game.

January 8th after five consecutive home games, we took our skills on the road to see how we could play outside of the comfort of our home. Didn't matter:) Traveling to Romeoville, Illinois to play Lewis University, we started the game off a little slow and went to the motions a little too much. Behind most of the 1st half and only leading by 4 at half-time, the girls went into the locker room, threw on the superman costumes, came back out and won by almost 30 points. Out scoring the Flyers by 25 points, out rebounding them, and completely out hustling them! Again with Schwagmeyer leading all scores with 24 points and three others in double digits. Also everyone adding at least 2 points! It once again an all around effort. With the help of Coach JD Gravina motivating the girls so much that he pulled off his coat and tie.

This win was Coach JD Gravina's 100th Career win, and the girls celebrated this by soaking him with 15 Gatorade bottles full of water! We are now 12-1. We also were just added to the National Rankings January 11th. Taking the 23rd spot and receiving 84 total points.
http://www.wbca.org/blog/index.cfm/2011/1/11/20102011-Week-8-DII-Poll/


With all of this success, there is still plenty to learn, prove and grow on! Continuing the challenges this Thursday the 13th against Wisconsin-Parkside at 5:15. Be there to cheer us on and hopefully take out the top ranked team in the conference!