The Griffon women had their chances down the stretch but two shots came up short as time expired in overtime against Northwest Missouri State. The Griffons are still winless on the road in MIAA play falling to 0-8. Alicia Bell dumped in a career high 19 points as Western falls to 6-16 overall and 4-12 in MIAA play.
Western struggled in the early going on the offensive end of the floor making just one of its first ten shots getting down 15-2. Westetn turned things around at the 13:00 minute mark starting a 17-1 run which put Western up 19-16 after a layup by Ashleigh Curry.
Northwest responded with another run of their own outscoring Western 12-2 regaining a seven point lead with 5:13 to play. Once again Western responded closing on a 15-4 run taking a three point lead (36-33) into the locker room.
The Bearcats opened up the second half like the did the first outscoring the Griffons 15-6 claiming a six point lead after an three point play by Tara Roach with 12:16 to play. Western responded like the did in the first half going on a 12-3 run claiming a three point lead after a Bell three with 7:05 to play.
The rest of the half would be back and forth with neither team holding more than a three point lead. Bell nailed a jumper with 1:05 to play tying the score at 63. Last second shots by Jessica Koch and Alex Noble bounced off the rim as the teams went to overtime.
The story of overtime was the long range shot as the teams combined to hit five shots from beyond the arc. Northwest’s Abby Thayer opened the period with a three giving the Bearcats the three point lead. Western responded with a Kallie Schoonover jumper and a Bell three giving Western the 68-66 lead with 3:25 to play.
The two teams traded three’s with Western going up 71-69 after a Schoonover bomb, but the Bearcats used a second chance three by Shelly Martin with 21 seconds to play sealing the victory. Northwest improves to 5-19 overall and 3-13 in MIAA action.
Koch continued her streak of consecutive games in double figues dumping in 12 points. She has scored in double figures in 32 straight games. Ashleigh Curry collected a double double scoring 13 points and dumping in 13 rebounds. Schoonover was the only other Griffon in double figures scoring 10 points.
The Bearcats were led by Abby Henry and Martin with 16 and 15 points respectively. They scored 25 points off 20 Griffon turnovers and had 18 second chance points to the Griffons four.
Western returns to action on Wednesday, February 15 when they take on Lincoln Blue Tigers in Jefferson City, Mo. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 pm in Jason Gym.
— MWSU Sports Information —