MARYVILLE, Mo. – The hottest team in the MIAA remains Northwest Missouri State. Needing a win to own at least a share of first place, the Bearcats scored an impressive 80-68 victory over Missouri Southern Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.

By avenging a loss to Southern on Jan. 21, the Bearcats improved to 18-5 overall and 11-4 in the MIAA. Southern dropped to 14-9 and 8-6. It was a dominating performance by Northwest, which has now won five in a row.

“We went back to the basics,” said Northwest senior Grant Cozad. “When we had those two tough losses in a row, we went back to what we were doing at the beginning of the season, just toughness and getting after it. I think that showed tonight. We just need to keep it rolling into next week against Lindenwood.”

The Bearcats took the lead midway through the first half and never trailed again. In fact, most of the second half Northwest led by double digits. Southern made the first bucket in the second half and closed to 45-36. The Bearcats scored next eight points for a commanding 53-38 lead.

“We executed offensively and defensively and we were getting everything we wanted,” said Northwest junior Conner Crooker.

But there was a lot of game left. Southern first-year coach Jeff Boschee, a former University of Kansas basketball star, has the Jayhawk pedigree. It didn’t matter to the Bearcats.

“I grew up watching Boschee, and I was a big fan,” Crooker said. “I didn’t think about it much, but it was a little weird.”

Plus, the Bearcats didn’t have to guard Boschee. He was on the bench coaching. He saw 5 minutes into the second half one of his player let frustration get the best of him. The player was whistled for two technicals and was thrown out of the game. Crooker made three of four free throws, giving Northwest a 60-38 lead.

“I am going to give the credit to Zach Schneider because he was frustrating him down there and staying straight up with him,” Cozad said. “I think Zach got a little emotional and started clapping.

“He was complaining about the calls all night. The refs had enough and kicked him out.”

Southern never really threatened the rest of the second half. The hot, three-point shooting of junior Blaine Miller allowed the Lions to close to 63-50.

The Bearcats, though, have several players who can also drain the three-pointer. On this occasion, it was Schneider who knocked down the trey that increased Northwest’s lead to 66-50.

Freshman point guard Justin Pitts followed with four straight free throws, giving the Bearcats a 70-50 lead with 7:01 left.

Once again, it was a team effort by the Bearcats. Crooker led Northwest with 16 points, senior Grant Cozad scored 14, Schneider had 13 and Pitts finished with 12

Northwest also received strong minutes from the bench. Freshman Brett Dougherty had nine points and four rebounds and sophomore Anthony Woods chipped in seven points.

In the first half, both teams shot the ball extremely well. The main reason Northwest went into halftime ahead 45-34 was because it had just three turnovers compared to nine for Southern.

Those extra meant Northwest took seven more shots and that made a difference. The Bearcats went 18 for 31 from the field for 58.1 percent. Southern was 14 for 24 from the field for 58.3 percent.

Through the first 10 minutes, the lead changed six times. The Bearcats scored four straight points to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 15-12 lead. Southern tied it at 21-21. The game remained close until the last four minutes when Northwest slowly gained some separation.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A turnover that led to a layup with 3.3 seconds left doomed the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team to a tough 73-71 overtime loss to Missouri Southern Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.

The Bearcats were in position to win. They had the ball with the game tied. Northwest coach Michael Smith believed in the play that was called. Northwest got the ball in the paint, but a tip of the cap goes to Missouri Southern.

Alexis Fitzpatrick stole the ball and made a perfect outlet pass to Nicole Hartzog, who was in full stride when she got the ball and then laid it in.

Northwest, which has four conference victories, is fighting to reach the MIAA Tournament. A win would have put them in a great position to nab one of the final three spots.

“It was tough,” Smith said. “But this was the hardest that our team has fought. I am extremely proud of the group we had in the game. I am extremely proud of the group that finished the basketball game.”

With four conference games left, Smith is confident his team will not only play in the conference tournament, but make it to Kansas City for the quarterfinals. He is basing his belief on what he saw from his squad in the second half.

“We showed tonight a lot of resiliency, a lot of toughness,” Smith said. “More importantly, I hope it continues to challenge our players. We have a lot of basketball left to play. We fight like this, there is no doubt we will be playing in Kansas City. That is our ultimate goal. We have to keep fighting.”

The game was going perfectly for Northwest early in the second half. The Bearcats built a 47-34 lead with 15:25 left in the game. Northwest then went cold. The Bearcats gave up the next 18 points and found themselves down 52-47.

During the first month of conference play, the Bearcats allowed those runs to grow into a double-digit deficit and they game was over.

A lot has changed since January. Northwest fought back and went ahead 64-63 on two free throws by freshman Tanya Meyer with 3:02 left.

“This team has taken huge strides from when we first started,” said sophomore Shelby Mustain. “We realize teams are going to go on runs, but we can make our own runs as well. We can stop their runs and go on a run and take control of the game.”

Northwest showed the same fight in overtime. The Bearcats trailed 69-66 and then Ariel Easton drilled a three-pointer that tied the game at 69-69.

The game came down to Southern just making one more play at the end. The Bearcats, though, were making plenty of plays during the game to force the Lions to make a great play at the end.

Easton finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Shelby Mustain had a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Meyer scored 17 points and junior Tember Schechinger added 13points and five rebounds.

Throughout the first half, Northwest completely controlled the action. The only reason the Bearcats’ 37-28 halftime lead wasn’t bigger was because of the three-pointers by Southern.

Northwest bolted to a quick 9-3 lead thanks to five points from Easton. Southern roared back on two straight three-pointers that tied the game, plus another basket which gave the Lions its only lead of the first half at 11-9.

The Bearcats went right back on five points by Tember Schechinger, giving Northwest a 14-11 lead. Northwest stretched its lead to 29-17. Southern tossed in three straight three-pointers and closed to 29-26.

After that flurry, Northwest went right back to the things that gave it the double-digit lead. The Bearcats played solid defense and on offense, they moved the ball around for high-percentage shots.

Northwest went on a 8-2 run and closed out the first half with a nine-point lead. For the half, Northwest shot 57 percent from the field while causing Southern to shooting 39 percent.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —