Midway through the first half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team built a 10-point lead against Saint Mary and then saw it shrink to one.
A basket by freshman Elizabeth Finn got the Bearcats rolling and rolling and rolling to an impressive 78-33 victory Tuesday evening at Bearcat Arena.
“We talked about doing our job, everybody stepping up and doing their job and people not trying to do other people’s job,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “Tonight was about us. It wasn’t about our opponent.
“In the first half, we played pretty timid. The second half opened my eyes up a lot as far as getting up and down the floor and pushing it.”
From the tail end of the first half through the first 6 minutes of the second half, Northwest scored 23 straight points, turning a 19-18 advantage to an insurmountable 42-18 lead.
The Bearcats continued to pour it on over the next 10 minutes, winning their second game of the season over the Spires from Leavenworth, Kan.
Northwest’s other win this season came against Saint Mary from Nebraska.
The impressive thing about Tuesday’s victory was the way the Bearcats executed on offense once St. Mary challenged them.
Northwest did nothing special to methodically build a 16-6 lead at the start of the game. A lack of execution on offense allowed St. Mary to close to 19-18.
“At that 4 minute timeout, we came out with a lot of energy,” said senior guard Ariel Easton. “We came out and brought energy from every aspect.”
In the last 4 minutes of the first half, the offense clicked for the Bearcats. Good ball movement created open shots. After Finn’s basket, junior guard Taylor Shull made a basket.
A few seconds later, sophomore forward Ashley Guenther hit a 5-foot, baseline jumper and then Easton drained a three-pointer. The half ended with a three-pointer by Shull, making it 31-18.
Northwest continued its strong offensive play at the start of the second half. The scoring started with a bucket from junior center Maggie Marnin.
“Looking into the post is something we need to do,” Easton said. “We did it tonight and we got to continue to carry on with it throughout the season.”
In all, five different players scored for the Bearcats in their 11-0 spurt to start the second half.
It is significant that Marnin had two baskets during that run. Marnin is playing her way back into game shape after missing the entire season last year because of an ACL injury.
“It felt good getting back,” Marnin said. “Coach pulled me aside and told me I was the biggest girl on the floor. Most girls won’t take that so well. I saw that as his confidence in me and wanting me to step up and help the team win.”
The huge lead allowed Smith to use his entire bench. Every player played at least 8 minutes and 11 players scored, led by 15 from junior Tember Schechinger and 12 from Easton. Sophomore center Shelby Mustain also scored in double figures, finishing with 10.
“I thought it was a well-balanced offense in the second half,” Smith said.
Schechinger tied a career-high in three pointers, making three in five attempts.
“She has been struggling from the confidence standpoint, too,” Smith said. “She went three for five for threes and she hadn’t attempted a three in our first five games and she had the same type looks. She didn’t feel as much pressure.
Northwest returns to action 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Arena against Rogers State (Okla.).
“Hopefully, we can maintain this when we come back after we eat a bunch of turkey and see if we can keep the same type of intensity,” Smith said.
— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —