By David Boyce
MARYVLLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State’s women’s basketball team scored the first field goal in the fourth quarter and trailed by only two points against Missouri Southern.
In the next few possessions, the Bearcats turned the ball over. Southern took advantage and expanded its lead to eight. Northwest never recovered, falling 86-76 to the Lions Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.
“Turnovers are an issue we have been fighting all year,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “It is going to happen. We just can’t let them pile up.
“We battled throughout the whole game. Just a few breakdowns here and there caught up to us.”
Northwest returns to action 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Bearcat Arena against Pittsburg State.
“We are working hard. I feel like we are right there,” said senior Jasmin Howe.
Offensively, Northwest did a lot of things right. The Bearcats recognized who had the hot hand and got her the ball. In the first two quarters, it meant feeding Howe.
In the second half, it was sophomore Arbrie Benson who drove to the basket for layups. It was her layup at the start of the fourth quarter that pulled the Bearcats to within two at 61-59.
Northwest, though, failed to value each possession in the final quarter and that caused the Bearcats to fall behind 69-61. Northwest spent the rest of the fourth quarter trying to wipe out the deficit.
An injury to starting forward Tanya Meyer forced the Bearcats to play without their regular rotation.
“There were some different lineups out there with Tanya being out,” Scheel said.
The outcome put a bit of a damper on good offensive games from Howe, Benson and sophomore Mallory McAndrews. Howe finished with 33 points, McAndrews scored 14 and Benson added 13.
“We had to space things out in the second half and that really opened up opportunities for her (Benson) to get to the basket,” Scheel said. “Through rotation, we were able to get some good looks.
“We got to continue to do what is working and make the adjustments and not beat ourselves. The past couple of games we have let things stack up and stack up.”
In the first half, Northwest shot the ball as well or better than it has all season long. The Bearcats made 14 of 23 shots for 61 percent. Unfortunately, Southern was a tad hotter and took a 43-39 lead into halftime.
Howe put together one of her best half of basketball in a Bearcat uniform. She went 6-for-7 from three-point range and 8-for-10 overall for 22 points. Her blistering shooting kept Northwest in striking distance and even gave the Bearcats several leads in the first half.
“Props to my teammates for getting me the ball,” Howe said.
The game started with a basket by Howe. Southern scored the next seven points, but a couple of minutes later, Northwest went back in front 12-11 on a three-pointer by Howe.
Northwest ended the first quarter with a three-pointer by McAndrews, giving the Bearcats a 21-17 lead.
The Lions opened the second quarter by scoring eight straight points for a 25-21 lead. Northwest regrouped and went back in front 29-27 on a three-pointer by Howe.
Northwest was unable to hold the lead and eventually fell behind 37-32. A step-in 17-foot jumper by Howe pulled Northwest to within three at 37-34 and a minute later she hit her sixth three-pointer of the half, helping the Bearcats close to 39-37.
— Northwest Athletics —