By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics
MARYVILLE, Mo. – For three quarters, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team nearly matched the No. 3 team in the country point-for-point. The Bearcats entered the fourth quarter trailing by just three to Fort Hays State.
But Northwest gave up the next seven points at the start of the final quarter and never recovered from it, falling 61-46 to Hays Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.
“We can play with anybody when we are locked in,” Northwest interim head coach Buck Scheel said. “Defensively, for the most part, we played pretty solid.”
The Bearcats showed plenty of fight late in the third quarter when it trailed 38-31. The game appeared to be slipping away when a basket by senior Tember Schechinger, followed by two free throws by junior Shelby Mustain, pulled Northwest to within three at 38-35 to close out the third period.
Hays junior Jill Faxon shifted the momentum back to Hays at the start of the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. Hays added two more baskets, which gave them a 45-35 lead.
“We just can’t have that,” said Schechinger of the three-pointer. “No matter what point in the game, we can’t have that happen.”
The 10-point deficit was too much for the Bearcats to overcome against a team that is holding opponents to 55.7 points per game.
“We were struggling to get into a flow,” Scheel said. “We were getting looks, but we were passing up shooting opportunities and passing up post-entry opportunities. That’s not how we’ve been playing. We were very passive on offense and that let to our turnovers.”
Northwest didn’t help its cause by turning the ball over 30 times compared to only nine turnovers for Hays. The Tigers also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds. That combination allowed Hays to take 23 more shots.
“Offensively, we were just giving them the ball and more opportunities and they were capitalizing on those opportunities,” Scheel said. “Twenty-two points off of turnovers is going to hurt you.”
The focus for the Bearcats shifts to their next game. They will play at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Missouri Southern. It was at Southern on Dec. 9 that the Bearcats started to gain confidence in their ability with a five-point loss.
“The Missouri Southern game turned us around as a team,” said Schechinger, who finished with her sixth double-double this season (13 points, 11 rebounds). “I think this is a game we can definitely get. If we don’t get it, it is going to be a big deal.”
Northwest played a gritty first half and went into halftime trailing only 27-23 against the highly-ranked Tigers.
The Bearcats showed their spunk late in the first quarter when they gave up six straight points and stared at a 13-7 deficit. Scheel called timeout. Northwest regrouped and scored the final five points in the first quarter and the first four points in the second quarter for a 16-13 lead.
Hays answered with the next six points to grab a three-point advantage. The Bearcats stayed close the rest of the second quarter, even pulling to 25-23 with less than a minute left in the quarter.
Both teams played solid defense. Northwest shot 37 percent from the field in the first half and Hays made 36 percent of its shots.
Schechinger played well in the first half for the Bearcats, making three of four shots from the field and pulling down five rebounds.
— Northwest Athletics —