By DON O'BRIEN
Herald-Whig Sports Editor
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Every time Quincy University thought it was back in the game Saturday night, Chism McEntire killed the Lady Hawks' flow.
McEntire, a senior shooting guard for Missouri Science & amp; Technology, made several momentum-changing 3-point shots, including three in the second half to help the Miners to a 79-73 victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament at Weiser Gym.
Her last triple with 5 minutes, 5 seconds left to play answered a 3-pointer by QU's Janette Burgin and pushed S & amp;T's lead to 66-62.
"We had the momentum and then not even a couple of seconds later she comes down and knocks it down," Burgin said. "It killed us."
McEntire made two other 3-pointers earlier in the half to answer QU baskets.
A 3-pointer by Alex Roznowski two minutes into the second half pushed QU's lead to 41-36. Seconds later, McEntire countered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
After S & amp;T (24-6) had seized the lead for the first time, Jessica Keller made a 3-pointer to bring the Lady Hawks within 49-46 with 11:30 remaining. McEntire countered with a 3-pointer from the left wing to push the lead back to 52-46.
"Every time I don't catch and shoot everyone yells at me to shoot it," said McEntire, who made a timely 3-pointer late in Friday's quarterfinal win over Michigan Tech.
"That's kind of my role on this team, to hit the outside shot. I'm not always a big-time scorer. I want the ball and shoot it. They just happened to go in."
Nothing went in for Quincy (20-10) early in the second half as the Lady Hawks watched a 38-30 halftime lead disappear quickly. QU made just 2 of its first 13 shots in the second half and turned the ball over four times as the Miners went on a 19-5 run to open the second half.
Tamara McCaskill, S & amp;T's first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection, played just five minutes in the first half because of foul woes, but came out strong to start the second half. She scored 12 points during that game-changing run.
"I was beyond anxious," McCaskill said. "I was getting very restless on the bench. I knew I had to pick it up in the second half. I didn't want to let up."
The Miners struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 27.8 percent from the field, as Quincy led by as many as 11 points in the first half. QU coach JD Gravina thought the Lady Hawks' halftime advantage could have been even bigger.
"That's always a scary situation to be in," Gravina said. "We missed two pretty open layups and free-throw shooting really hurt us in the first half and all night. Those are things you have to do to win ballgames."
QU shot just 7 of 13 from the free-throw line in the first half and just 14 of 24 for the game. The Miners wound up shooting 67 percent from the floor in the second half (16 for 24) and were 17 for 22 from the line in the game. S & amp;T made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 2:02 to help seal its second win over Quincy in three tries this season.
"I don't think we could have gotten off to a worse start tonight," Miners coach Alan Eads said. "This team has a lot of resiliency though."
McEntire finished with 17 points on the strength of five 3-pointers to tie McCaskill for team scoring honors. McCaskill scored 15 of her points in the second half. Katie McElrath added 13 points and 12 rebounds for S & amp;T, which will face xxxxx in Monday's region title game. XXXX beat XXXX in Saturday's other semifinal.
Keller closed out her junior season with a 24-point, six-rebound, four-steal effort to lead Quincy. Burgin had 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half, while Roznowski had 12 points and Courtney Shuman added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Hawks.
-- dobrien@whig.com/221-3365
