PITTSBURG, Kan. – Midway through the first half, Northwest Missouri State sophomore forward Shelby Mustain rewarded her teammates for getting her the ball.
Mustain made basket after basket against a very good Pittsburg State team. Unfortunately, the Bearcats faced a double-digit deficit 5 minutes into the game.
Despite several nice offensive stretches in the first half, the Bearcats were unable to slow down Pittsburg State.
Northwest trailed by 22 in the first half and then gave up the first five points to start the second half. It was too much for the Bearcats to overcome, falling 85-59 Saturday afternoon at Lance Arena.
The Gorillas bolted to a 13-2 lead before the first media timeout. They were scoring in the paint and beyond the three-point arc. Mustain’s burst kept Northwest somewhat close through the middle part of the first half.
During that stretch, Pittsburg State had no answer for her. Pittsburg State Lane Lord even called a timeout to get his team to play tougher defense.
Lord didn’t need to offer any advice on offense. The Gorillas were operating at a championship level, moving the ball around and getting wide-open buckets.
Once the Gorillas slowed down Mustain, they extended their lead from 28-21 to 45-23. The 17-2 run by Pittsburg State put the game away.
Still, Mustain continued to battle. She went 6-for-7 from the field in the first half. Her 12 points were just two off her career high. Mustain added four more points in the second half and finished with 16, a new career high.
As a team, Northwest shot the ball well in the first half, making 13-of-24 shots from the field for 54 percent. Pittsburg State, though, was better. The Gorillas were 17-for-30 for 57 percent. Six of those field goals came from behind the three-point arc.
Pittsburg State went into halftime with a 53-31 lead and continued to play at a high level in the first 8 minutes of the second half. The Gorillas increased their lead to 73-36 with 11:42 left in the game.
Northwest, though, played hard until the very end. The Bearcats trailed 80-40 and then outscored Pittsburg State 19-5 the rest of the game.
— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —