By David Boyce
MARYVILLE, Mo. – For one half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team played the type of winning basketball that will get victories in the rugged MIAA conference.
The Bearcats jumped to a 12-point lead at halftime against the University of Central Missouri and held that advantage early in the third quarter.
But a full court press by Central Missouri in the third quarter took the Bearcats out of their rhythm. Central Missouri closed to six at the end of the third quarter.
With 4 minutes left, Central Missouri had one more spurt and that carried the Jennies to a 61-55 victory Sunday afternoon at Bearcat Arena. It was a heartbreaking finish for Northwest.
“We have seen pressure before,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “We know what we have to do in those situations and we have to do it. I can’t always call timeout to straighten things out. We have to execute, and we have to do it consistently.”
Northwest saw its 45-37 lead early in the fourth quarter turn into a 45-45 tie with 5:18 left.
Central Missouri took its first lead of the game at 48-47 with 3:56 left. But the Bearcats quickly responded with a three-pointer by sophomore Mallory McAndrews, making it 50-48.
The Jennies went back to their press and even when Northwest broke it, the guards twice failed to see a wide-open McAndrews on the wing for a potential three-pointer.
“We got some players when they get pressure and they have the ball in their hands, they have tunnel vision,” Scheel said. “It is something you have to learn from and figure it out. It just takes time.”
Central Missouri took a 52-50 lead with 2:19 left and then extended it to 56-50.
“Central Missouri hit some big shots when they needed them, and we didn’t take care of scoring opportunities when we had them,” Scheel said. “We missed some shots and had some turnovers.”
The 8-0 run by Central Missouri late in the game dashed the Bearcats hope of winning their first MIAA game of the season.
“We need to do a better job of handling the adversity no matter what it is,” Scheel said.
The loss dampened another stellar performance from junior forward Tanya Meyer. She finished with 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
“We just need to be physically tough with the ball,” Meyer said. “I think that was one of the major things tonight. That was the reason for the outcome today. We need to be able to make the plays when we need them late in the game.”
In the first quarter, Northwest came out and played its most intense 10 minutes of defense and that allowed the Bearcats to bolt to a 14-2 lead and carry a 19-8 advantage into the second quarter.
Northwest was also playing well offensively. Three-pointers by Macy Williams and Meyer gave the Bearcats confidence early on.
The Bearcats continued to play well defensively in the second quarter. If it wasn’t for a three-pointer by Central Missouri in the closing seconds of the second quarter, Northwest would have had a bigger lead.
Still, Northwest went into halftime ahead 31-19. The Bearcats shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half and held Central Missouri to 24.1 percent from the field.
The only aspect that hurt Northwest in the first half was turnovers. The Bearcats turned the ball over 11 times compared to five for the Central Missouri.
— Northwest Athletics —