WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Junior Taylor Shull stepped to the line for Northwest Missouri State with 7.4 seconds remaining and the Bearcats trailing by one at Central Missouri.
The way Shull stared at the basket before taking a shot left no doubt the moment was right for her. But Shull admitted she was nervous.
“A couple of the girls came up to me and they were like, ‘Taylor, we believe in you. We know you can hit these.'” Shull said.
Shull drilled the first free throw. Central Missouri called timeout to ice Shull.
It didn’t bother her. Shull made the second one. Northwest then played great defense, getting two blocks and then watched a desperation three-pointer go wide left.
Northwest came away with a thrilling 61-60 victory over the Jennies Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Building. It was the second straight nail-biting win for the Bearcats.
“From the start, our kids executed our game plan to a tee,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “They were a driving team and we knew it so we tried to limit their opportunities to get drives.
“Our kids are starting to believe. You can see that in their eyes. This is a big win for us on the road. Anytime you can get a win on the road in the MIAA it says a lot. I am really proud of our kids right now.”
On Wednesday, Northwest beat Southwest Baptist on a buzzer beater by sophomore Shelby Mustain.
The win Saturday afternoon was more significant. It was on against a team that has five MIAA wins and was picked to finish fifth in conference.
“This is huge,” Shull said of the back-to-back wins. “We started the season a little slow. These two wins are confidence boosters. We got to keep going and keep building off of it.”
The Jennies showed their will to win when they fell behind 35-30 at the start of the second half and responded by taking a 40-37 lead a few minutes later.
Northwest didn’t back down. The Bearcats went back in front 41-40 on a basket by Ariel Easton, who finished with a game-high 17 points.
Central Missouri had a small spurt and took a 44-43 lead. Northwest bounced right back with its best run of the second half. Fueled by consecutive three-pointers by freshman Bailey Smith, Northwest built a 51-44 lead with 9:26 left.
“Those were really big, but I could not have done that without my teammates because they gave me the confidence to hit those threes,” Bailey Smith said. “I lost confidence here lately. Just getting it back feels great.”
The Bearcats struggled to score the rest of the way, but they continued to battle and fight for each point even when they trailed 57-53 with 4:56 remaining. Northwest scored the next four, which included a basket by junior Tember Schechinger that tied the game 57-57 with 4:06 left.
But once again Northwest faced a deficit. The Bearcats trailed 60-57 with 1:54 left. Northwest didn’t give up another point the rest of the way.
With a 1:09 left, Northwest closed to one on a layup by Mustain. And that set the stage for Shull’s clutch free throws.
It was another team effort by the Bearcats. Schechinger finished with 12. Freshman Tanya Meyer came off the bench and scored 11 and Smith added 10 off the bench.
“We had some early foul trouble and we had some kids step in and play,” Michael Smith said. “Tanya Meyer came in and gave us some big minutes. Another freshman, Bailey Smith hit three big threes. I am very proud of her. She has been struggling a little bit, but the kid has been in the gym everyday shooting.”
In the first half, Northwest continued to show growth. The Bearcats fell behind 19-10 midway through the half, but went into halftime with a 33-30 lead.
The Bearcats played solid zone defense in the last 10 minutes and the offense got on track. They made a quick spurt to close to 19-16.
“After our first MIAA win, we know we don’t have to give up when we are down,” Shull said. “We can keep fighting back. We realized that. There is never a time to give up. We can keep coming back.”
Northwest stayed within three and four points over the next 5 minutes and then took a 25-24 lead on a three-pointer by Meyer with 5:05 left.
Central Missouri regained the lead. Northwest came right back with a three-pointer by Smith, giving the Bearcats a 28-26 lead.
The Bearcats nearly shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, going 13 for 28. They also held Central Missouri to 33 percent.
— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —