By David Boyce
MARYVILLE, Mo. – A poor third quarter wiped away a very good first half by the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team. That 10-minute stretch played a major role in the 87-77 loss to Washburn Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.
“It was brutal, but I would be lying if I said I was surprised,” Northwest coach Scheel said. “We have done that plenty of times in the past. We just can’t put together four quarters consistently.
Northwest held a 13-point late in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 41-32 lead. Washburn scored the first two baskets in the third quarter. The first one came from senior Alyxis Bowens. It foretold of things to come. The 16 points by Bowens was the main reason Washburn outscored Northwest 27-12 in the third quarter for a 59-53 lead.
“We came out in the third quarter and I think our players thought the game was already over,” Scheel said.
The Ichabods scored the first basket in the final quarter before Northwest mounted a charge. Consecutive three-pointers by sophomore Mallory McAndrews helped the Bearcats close to 63-62. They seemingly had all the momentum in front of a large crowd. McAndrews knocked seven three-pointers and finished with a career-high 21 points.
“I felt good with what we had going,” Scheel said. “We had some good ball movement. We were getting the ball to our shooters when they were open. When we did that, we were getting great looks.”
Washburn weathered the two treys by Northwest and went on 8-0 run for a 71-62 lead. Northwest never recovered from that spurt from the Ichabods
“I thought we had some great minutes off the bench with Mallory, and Alexa Schaaf came in and hit a big shot and played good defense,” Scheel said.
In the first half, Northwest looked like a completely different team. The game started with senior Jasmin Howe knocking down a long three-pointer and that helped Northwest open an early 9-1 lead after Arbrie Benson hit a three-pointer. The trey was the theme for the Bearcats in the first half.
The Bearcats did cool down late in the first quarter and that allowed the Ichabods to take their only lead in the first half at 14-13.
Northwest wasted little time reclaiming the advantage. Two free throws by Howe followed by a Howe three-pointer gave the Bearcats an 18-14 lead. Northwest ended the first quarter with a McAndrews three-pointer that made it 21-16.
“I was feeling pretty good,” McAndrews said.
The Bearcats started the second quarter just as hot. Two free throws by Tanya Meyer and then a three-pointer by Meyer gave Northwest its first double-digit lead at 26-16. Northwest’s biggest lead came late in the second quarter when Howe made her third, three-pointer of the half, which increased the lead to 41-28.
“I thought in the first half we did a great of moving the ball against the zone and against the man, getting the ball to open people and knocking down shots,” Scheel said.
Throughout the second quarter, Washburn played a 2-3 zone because of foul trouble. Northwest found the holes in the zone and went 9 for 19 behind the arc for 47.4 percent.
“We were doing a lot of things right,” said Meyer, who finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds. “We got #32 (Bowens) into foul trouble. We didn’t let them get offensive rebounds. The first half we held them to a lot of one shot and out. We moved the ball on offense and got open looks for our shooters.”
— Northwest Athletics —