By David Boyce
EDMOND, Okla. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team faced a difficult task in its MIAA opener at Central Oklahoma Wednesday evening at Hamilton Field House.
The Bearcats left 20.2 points back in Maryville, Mo. Junior forward Tanya Meyer didn’t make the trip to Edmond because of an ankle injury. Without its leading scorer, Northwest struggled to score points, particularly in the first half.
“It hurt. You could tell right away,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “She has that scoring presence.”
Northwest made only six field goals in the first half and trailed by 21 points at halftime. The offense picked up for the Bearcats in the third quarter, but the deficit was too much to make up. Northwest lost 68-58.
“When we are without her, we have to have other people step up,” Scheel said. “It is an opportunity for other people to step up.”
Junior Taryne Shull did exactly that in the second half, scoring 13 points and finishing with a career-high 18 points.
Northwest showed plenty of fight in the second half. They came out in the third quarter behind 38-17. The Bearcats scored 18 points in the third quarter, closing to 49-35.
In the fourth quarter, Shull made a couple of three-pointers. Jasmin Howe added another and when Carlie Wilhelmi had a put-back bucket, the Bearcats found themselves trailing 60-48 with 4:51 left.
“I thought finally in the second half we had some players step up and it showed,” Scheel said. “We fixed some things at halftime. We came out in the second half and made those adjustments and they played harder with a lot more confidence. That is what we have to put together for four quarters.”
Northwest kept grinding and when Shull hit her third three-pointer of the game, the Bearcats were within six at 64-58 with 33.5 seconds remaining. Central Oklahoma put the game away by making four straight free throws.
The Bearcats return to action Tuesday evening at home against rival Missouri Western.
“Friday and Saturday is about us,” Scheel said. “Now we have an opportunity to focus on things we need to fix. We have to build off this second half.
— Northwest Athletics —