March 14, 2008 - Thanks to deadly shooting from the 3-point arc, Quincy University ended the best season in Hillsdale College women's basketball history Friday afternoon.

The Chargers lost 82-73 to the Hawks in Friday's first round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament at Drury University. Hillsdale finishes with a 23-5 record this season, its best in school history. The Hawks move onto Saturday's semifinal game against Missouri S&T, who defeated Michigan Tech earier in the day.

The Chargers trailed 41-27 at halftime, and despite a pair of thrilling second-half comebacks, the team was unable to make up a deficit that reached as high as 20 in the second half.

Charger junior Katie Cezat had another tremendous game to end a record-setting season, finishing with 33 points and 15 rebounds to lead all players. Junior Claire Aubrey played a strong two-way game, and had 16 points and eight rebounds. Jessica Keller led Quincy with 24 points.

Playing for the first time in 13 days, the Chargers found themselves trailing early in the game. Quincy did an excellent job of taking advantage of Hillsdale's turnovers, particularly in the first half. The Hawks scored an incredible 23 points off 11 Charger turnovers in the game's first 20 minutes.

The Hawks didn't let up in the second half, making seven of eight shots in one stretch to bump their lead up to 57-37 with 12:57 left in the game. That's when Hillsdale answered, with authority.

The Chargers went on a 14-2 run, generated thanks to the efficiency of the team's full-court press defense. Hillsdale forced three straight turnovers in Quincy's backcourt, easily converting those opportunities into scores that sliced the deficit to eight, 59-51 with 9:59 left in the second half.

Quincy answered, increasing the lead back to 14 before dealin with one more Charger run. Playing with intensity on both ends of the court, Hillsdale got right back in the game with a 14-5 run, highlighted by long jumpers by Cezat to make it a 69-67 game with 4:55 to go. Senior Julie Slot, playing in her final collegiate game for the Chargers, scored 10 of the team's 14 points in the thrilling run. But Quincy's accuracy from the 3-point line was never more significant than in the following few possessions.

While Cezat continued to be an unstoppable offensive force for Hillsdale, Quincy's Whintae Irby and Courtney Shuman nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to not only counter Hillsdale's points, but slowly increase its lead to four, 75-71. Those shots were preceded by a three-point play by backup center Michaela Young to increase the Hawk lead to 78-71 with less than three minutes remaining.

Cezat's 33 points gave her 673 for the season, only adding to her
record-setting total for the season. Slot finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in her final game for Hillsdale. Sophomore guard Brooke Knight played with aggressiveness on offense, scoring 12 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.

This regional game was the first for Hillsdale since 2003. Most of the team figures to return next season, as Slot was the only senior on the roster. Adding in the influx of six talented freshman, Hillsdale College figures to be in the regional title hunt again in 2008-09 and beyond.

Click on the link below for the box score from Friday's regional game.

Box score