The miscues caused Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball coach Michael Smith to walk behind the bench, then to the end of the bench and finally to the water jug.
Smith drank a lot of water in the second half.
But ultimately, the last gulp was sweet because the Bearcats pulled out a 57-51 overtime victory over Northeastern State Monday evening a Bearcat Arena.
“I am ringing wet underneath this jacket right now,” Smith said. “You look at that group we had on the floor the last 10 minutes, they were core kids whohave played together. That was the key thing that I was looking at when things were getting tight at the end of the game. Those kids read each other. Theyknew how to play.
“We had some crucial turnovers at the end, but we also had some big stops and big rebounds as well.”
It was the second conference win of the season for Northwest, which improved to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the MIAA.
“We knew this was a big game,” Smith said. “I thought it was a must win for our program because we were home, we knew we were going to have the students back. We had a great crowd. I am happy we were able to get this win for them.”
The Bearcats led all but one possession in the first half and maintained a lead in the second half until Northeastern took a 44-43 with 6:35 left on a three-point play by Jamie Jackson.
Like in the first half, Northwest quickly responded and went right back in front on a basket by Ashleigh Nelson. The Bearcats slowly grew their lead to 48-44 with about 2 minutes left.
In the final 2 minutes, Northwest failed to solidify their lead because of a few turnovers. It allowed the RiverHawks to regain the lead on a driving layup by Jackson with 10 seconds left.
To the Bearcats credit, they didn’t panic. They quickly raced down the court. Senior Monique Stevens was fouled on the shot with six seconds left. She made one of two free throws and that sent the game into overtime.
“There are always nerves when the game comes down to you making them or missing them,” said Stevens, who finished with 14 points. “I missed the first one and kind of freaked myself out a little bit. He (Northeastern coach Randy Gipson) called a timeout and I was able to compose myself. I shoot them every day. I went back out a lot calmer and confident that I could hit that shot and get the game into overtime.”
It was all Northwest in the overtime period. Nelson gave Northwest the lead at 51-49.
“We just really believed in each other at the end,” said Nelson, who finished with 14 points and five assists. “We came together and told ourselves we can do it. We been in an overtime situation and the outcome was different. I thinkthis time we were a lot more composed as a team. Even with all our turnovers, we didn’t freak out.”
Annie Mathews, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, followed up with a basket to increase the Bearcats lead to four.
Defensively, the Bearcats limited Northeastern to just two points in overtime.
“We had a lot of kids who played who gave us good positive minutes,” Smith said. “And more importantly, I felt our energy near the end of the game from our crowd and from our bench kept us going.”
The RiverHawks only lead in the first half came on a high-arching three-pointer by Fontana Tate to make it 17-16.
The Bearcats scored the next four points, but Tate struck again with her third, three-pointer of the half. Her try tied the game 20-20.
A few minutes later, Stevens matched Tate with her third, three-pointer, which increased Northwest lead to 25-22. Another three-pointer by Ashleigh Nelsonwith 25 seconds left in the first half gave Northwest its biggest lead of the half at 28-22.
Northwest played great defense in the first half, holding the RiverHawks to 25 percent from the field.
— Northwest Sports Information —