Down by nine points late in the second half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team refused to concede to Pittsburg State.

The Bearcats clawed their way back and had a chance to tie or win with the lastpossession. Unfortunately, Northwest failed to get off a good shot on two opportunities.

So what could have been a thrilling, come-from-victory turned into tough 57-55loss for Northwest Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena in the MIAA opener forboth teams.

“We can’t hang our heads,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “We have a one-day prep before we have Emporia State coming to town, playing on our home floor. We need to represent our home floor with the best of our abilities.”

All indications point to the Bearcats learning  from this loss. In fact, they showed growth during the game. In the first half, they had 12 turnovers and never went to the free throw line.

“We made some turnovers in the first half that kind of put us in a bind,” Smith said. “We did a much better job in the second half of handling the basketball, but we can’t be a team that plays from behind. That will wear on you more mentally than physically, especially in a tough conference season we have ahead of us.”

Northwest reduced the turnovers to just three in the second half and made 12 of 14 from the line.

One of those misses came from junior Ashleigh Nelson with 24 seconds remaining that could have tied the game at 56-56.

But it was Nelson’s shooting from the field that gave Northwest an opportunity to win.  She led all scorers with 18 points.

With a little under 7 minutes left, it looked very bleak for Northwest. The Bearcats trailed 52-43. At that point, Northwest picked up its defense and started creating a few turnovers.

“We all have the fight within ourselves to do it, but like coach said, we can’t play from behind,” Nelson said. “We have to be the team who is ahead and act like we are behind and play with the passion and energy as if we are down.”

Over the next 4 minutes, the Bearcats chipped away at its deficit and closed to 55-54 with 2:07 left. They just couldn’t come up with that one play to put them over the top.

“It was a little frustrating finding someone to step up and make a play for us to get us that lead,” Nelson said.

Both Smith and Nelson agreed that the game was really lost in the first half.

Despite going into halftime tied 28-28, Northwest put together one stretch in the latter part of the first half that gave a glimpse of what it can do when everything is in sync.

The Bearcats trailed 14-12 when they started reducing the enforced turnovers, played tough defense and had great ball movement.

A basket by Ariel Easton tied the game and Nelson gave the Bearcats their first lead since 3-2 when she made a bucket to make it 16-14 with 8:15 remaining in the first half.

After Pittsburg tied the game at 16-16, the Bearcats scored the next seven points for a 23-16 lead. Three different players scored during the run.

The Bearcats were not able to sustain that level of play and only scored five points in the final 6 minutes in the first half.

“If we could have stretched our lead, it would have been huge for us to go into the second half with a lead,” Nelson said.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State football team placed five individuals on the Daktronics Super Region #3 team. Junior defensive end Matt Longacre, who earned first-team honors, was also named the Defensive Player of the Year. Cornerback Brandon Dixon and offensive lineman Cody Carlson were named first-team performers and linebackers Eric Reimer and D.J. Gnader each earned second team honors. All five honorees were also first-team All-MIAA performers.

Longacre was the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year, recording 53 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He also has 15 quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown against Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 28.

Carlson has started all 12 games for the Bearcats at left guard. Northwest has given up just 14 sacks on the season and is ranked fourth in NCAA Division II with a 45.8 point per game average.

Dixon has recorded 26 tackles, seven pass breakups, one field goal block and one interception on the season. Consistently charged with defending the opponent’s top receiver, Dixon and the Bearcats rank sixth nationally in total defense (283.4) and 16th in pass defense (181.9).

Reimer has started all 12 games this season for Northwest, recording 89 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and has forced a fumble. He was named to the Capital One Academic All-America team this season.

D.J. Gnader leads the Bearcats with 90 tackles on the season. He has also recorded 5.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, six pass breakups, two interceptions, two quarterback hurries and has recovered one fumble. He has started all 12games for Northwest this year.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State quarterback Trevor Adams and linebacker Eric Reimer were named to the Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division II football team. The team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Adams, who becomes a three-time Academic All-America® selection, was honored as the winner of the Academic All-America® of the Year award for Division II football. He becomes the second Bearcat to earn this honor, joining Josh Lamberson who was the Academic All-America® of the Year award winner in 2005.

This season, Adams currently leads all of Division II with a 192.1 pass efficiency rating and a 73.5 completion percentage. His 25 touchdown passes is a career-high and his 2,292 passing yards marks the third time he has surpassed 2,000 yards for a season. For his career, Adams ranks second in Northwest history in touchdown passes with 69, third with 514 completions and is fourth in completion percentage (65.6), passing yards (7,018) and total offense (7,480). He was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year and was named aScholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation (NFF). The Odessa, Texas, native has a 3.94 GPA and will graduate from Northwest this December with adegree in Biology/Psychology.

Reimer, a native of Menomonee Falls, Wisc., was a first-team All-MIAA selection as a junior. For the season, he has recorded 89 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and has one forced fumble. He has also recorded five quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. Against then-No. 7 Pittsburg State, Reimer recorded 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also forced a fumble, assisted in recording a safety, had a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. The Bearcats are eighth in the NCAA in scoring defense (16.4), 13th in rushing defense (101.5), 16th in passing defense (181.9) and sixth nationally in total defense (283.4). Reimer is a Business Management and Marketing major at Northwest and has a 3.89 GPA.

Northwest will host St. Cloud State this Saturday at noon at Bearcat Stadium in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

— Northwest Sports Information —

All through the season, Northwest Missouri State offensive players talked about the importance of the first drive in the second half.

The most important drive of the third quarter for the Bearcats so far this season occurred on a sunny Saturday afternoon in front of 4,514 fans at Bearcat Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs against Minnesota Duluth.

Northwest held a 10-point lead when it received the kickoff. The Bearcats went 70 yards in six plays and scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Trevor Adams to junior wide receiver Reuben Thomas. Thomas finished with 154 yards on eight receptions.

“That was big,” Adams said. “It solidified our lead. But you have to give it to our defense. They played well all game long. It was a good team win for us.”

The Bearcats wound up scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter on the way to a 45-21 victory.

Northwest, 12-0, advances to the quarterfinals and will play at home next Saturday against St. Cloud. The Bearcats also avenged a 2010 loss to Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals.

“We remember,” said Northwest senior linebacker Eric Reimer. “That conference has taken it to us the last few years. Last year Mankato beat us. We wanted to come out here and play a good game.”

When Northwest took a 17-0 lead, Minnesota Duluth needed to do something it was only able to accomplish once in the first half and that was to put together a drive.

The Bearcats stuffed the Bulldogs again and forced a punt.

Adams, who started slowly, was hitting his receivers between the numbers in the third quarter. He did it in impressive fashion in the next drive that once again started at the 30.

On this occasion, the Bearcats needed just three plays to go 70 yards. The 38-second drive was capped on a beautiful 50-yard spiral to junior wide receiver Jason Jozaites. It gave Northwest a 24-0 lead with 9:29 left in the third quarter.

“It was fun,” said Adams, who tossed four touchdowns and completed 16-of-24 passes for 277 yards.

“Our offensive line played great. I praise God for the way we were able to come out and play.”

A little later, Adams concluded his third quarter, touchdown hat trick with a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Clint Utter for a 31-0 lead.

“We finally felt comfortable,” said Utter, who caught two touchdown passes. “We had weird little things that kept happening in the first half. We were shooting ourselves in the foot. Once we calmed down and found that rhythm, we had during the season, from then on it was normal.”

The Bulldogs scored 14 points in the first 3 minutes of the fourth quarter, but they were too far behind to erase a 31-point deficit. But they made the game a bit too interesting when they scored a touchdown with 6:32 left, making it 31-21.

“Our defense was huge,” Utter said. “They kept us in the game. Duluth’s defense was doing it, too.

“Our defense played out of their minds. They came out physical and once we started scoring, it helped them out.”

The brick-wall defense by Northwest gave the offense most of the first half to get on track. And when the Bearcats started rolling with the ball, they scored quick.

Northwest scored 10 points in the final 2:11 left in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 10-0 lead.

On defense, Northwest did an amazing job keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard.

Late in the first quarter, after Hunter Malberg picked off his second pass, Minnesota Duluth had the ball at the Northwest’s 14. Three plays later, the Bulldogs were still on the 14 and had to settle for a 32-yard field goal attempt.

“That was huge. It kept us in the game,” Reimer said. “They score there and that is a big turning point in the game.”

The Bulldogs missed and that planted a seed for a decision late in the second quarter. Defense by both teams dominated the first quarter. Each team mustered just one first down in the opening quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs grabbed the momentum when they completed a 24-yard pass on a fake punt from their 20.

Minnesota Duluth took advantage of a somewhat dazed Northwest team and marched to Northwest 3 and had first and goal. They managed just one yard in the next three plays.

Instead of settling for a field goal that was the length of an extra point, the Bulldogs went for it and got a yard, leaving them two yards short of the end zone.

“That was awesome,” Reimer said. “It kept the momentum on our side. It helped our offense, giving them more possessions. We were playing as a unit. It was a lot of fun.”

Northwest started at its 2. Back-up quarterback Brady Bolles made his first appearance and on the first play, he ran for 26 yards. Bolles’ run loosened up the passing game. The Bearcats drove to the 5 and on fourth and 5, they decided to kick a 25-yard field goal, which Simon Mathiesen made with 2:11 left in the second quarter.

“Our defense was playing great all game,” Bolles said. “We were putting them on a short porch and they kept getting stops. We knew the defense was going to keep rolling. We needed to get our game going. We got a field goal and kept going.”

The Bearcats went back to what they do best and stopped Minnesota Duluth in three plays and forced a punt.

A good return plus a personal foul penalty put the ball on the Bulldogs’ 35. Adams returned to quarterback and it took him three plays to put the ball in the end zone. The lone touchdown in the first half was an 11-yard strike to Utter with 42 seconds left until halftime.

“The way Brady came in and helped change momentum was huge,” Adams said. “Our defense played great the whole game. Brady came in and ran and switched things up.

“It got me going, too. I’m so glad he came in and did that. From there we were able to do some good things.”

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team rebounded from a loss last Sunday with a 70-57 victory over the College of St. Mary Saturday at home.

The Bearcats came out to a 10-2 lead early in the first half. CSM was able to battle back has there were seven lead changes before halftime.

The Flames outscored Northwest in the paint 12 to 8 as they held a slim four point leading heading into halftime, 33-29.

CSM came out in the second half holding onto a 40-35 lead before the Bearcats went on a 16-2 run that spanned seven minutes and put them up 51-42.

Northwest never looked back as the offense clicked down the stretch and the Bearcats came away with a 70-57 win.

Ariel Easton led all scorers with 19 points and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ashleigh Nelson added 14 points as she was a perfect 7 for 7 from the free throw line.

Shelby Mustain was able to grab her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds as she earned her first career start.

The Bearcats move their season record to 2-4 with the victory and will take on Pittsburg State Thursday to open up MIAA play. Tip-off at Bearcat Arena is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team led wire-to-wire in an 83-60 win against Peru State on Tuesday night in Bearcat Arena. Northwest moves to 4-2 on the season with the win. The game was played as an exhibition for Peru State.

Northwest lead by as many as 30 points late in the second half, shooting 47.2 percent from the field for the game. The Bearcats made 27-of-38 free throws(71.1%) and forced 26 Bobcat turnovers with 11 steals and six blocked shots.

Dillon Starzl had a game-high 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting as 11 different Bearcats recorded points on the evening. Starzl also had a team-best eight rebounds. Conner Crooker had 12 points and Bryston Williams added 11 points. Kyle Schlake had a career-best four blocked shots. Williams had a game-high three steals.

Late in the first half, Peru State closed the margin to within 11 with 4:45left on a pair of free throws, 31-20. But a trio of timely threes from Jordan Ashton and Zach Schneider pushed the lead out to 20, 47-27, as Northwest closed the half on a 16-7 run.

Peru State would stage an early second half push, going on a 10-0 run to pull within 14 at 56-40, with 11:08 to go in the game. But Northwest responded with a 19-5 run to build the lead to 30 with 5:42 left, 75-45. The lead would never dip back under 21 points.

The Bearcats will head to Springfield, Mo., for the Comfort Inn/Drury Thanksgiving Classic, beginning on Friday afternoon. Northwest will play host Drury on Friday at 3:30 p.m. followed by a neutral site game against Truman State on Saturday at 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State head women’s basketball coach Michael Smith has announced the signings of four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. The signing class includes Raven Bunn, Elizabeth Finn, Tanya Meyer and Bailey Smith. All four signees will be freshmen starting in the fall of 2014.

“I’m excited with this early signing class,” said Smith. “Our staff did a great job evaluating and building a relationship with these student-athletes. We’ve addressed some key positions with this class. Both of the point guards havegrown up around the game as they are coaches kids. Both Raven and Tanya bring us athleticism and versatility to our program.”

Raven Bunn is a 5-10 wing player from Fort Osage High School in Independence, Mo. She averaged 15 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game and was a first-team all conference and all district performer.

“I first watched Raven during our team camp and the two qualities that stood out was her work ethic and her personality, both things I want to be around on a daily basis,” Smith said. “She is someone that wants the ball when the game is on the line and we are excited to have her.”

Elizabeth Finn is a 5-7 point guard from Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Last season she earned second-team all conference and all area honors. She averaged 13 points, 3.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game.

“Liz is a deceivingly quick left-handed point guard that has great floor vision that allows her to make things happen on the offensive end,” said Smith. “There is no doubt her best basketball is yet to come.”

Tanya Meyer averaged 20 points and 8.0 rebounds per game for Sioux City West High School in Sioux City, Iowa, last season. She was a first-team all conference performer and earned third-team all state accolades.

“We are really excited about Tanya’s signing,” said Smith. “As the second leading scorer in class 5A last season, she brings toughness and versatility to our program.”

Bailey Smith was a first-team all conference and all area performer at Columbus High School in Columbus, Neb. She averaged 7.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. The 5-6 point guard was also and honorable mention all state performer.

“Bailey comes in as a blue-collar type point guard, that does a good job putting her team in a position to win,” said Smith. “She brings a refuse to lose mentality and we are excited to watch her mature as a Bearcat.”

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State University head tennis coach Mark Rosewell has announced the singings of two incoming student–athletes for the 2014-15 academic year. The signing class includes Rachel Dibbins (Oceanside, Calif.) and Vilune Sestokaite (Kaunas, Lithuania). Both will be freshmen starting in the fall of 2014.

At Vista High School, Dibbins received tennis varsity letters as a sophomore and junior. As a senior she decided to focus on club tennis and passed on playing for the Vista High School team. In club competition during high school she was champion in four tournaments and runner up in six tournaments. As a junior at Vista High School, Dibbins qualified for the doubles California Interscholastic Federation tournament. She also received all-academic honors three years inhigh school.

“Rachel is a powerful player who comes from a great tennis area,” Rosewell said. “Growing up in San Diego, she was exposed to great competition every day. This experience will help her greatly when she faces college-level competition”.

Led by head coach and Northwest alum Stu Reece, Sestokaite was a member of the state champion team at Lee’s Summit North High School. She received all-conference honors for singles and doubles in three years. Sestokaite qualified for sectionals twice. She has received four varsity letters at Lee’s Summit North.

“Vilune is a great Kansas City area prospect who has already experienced a lot of success,” said Rosewell. “Her high school team, Lee’s Summit North, was recently crowned state champions this fall. This taste of success will helpVilune contribute to the Bearcat tennis family in our drive towards success”.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State head volleyball coach Amy Woerth has announced the signings of three incoming student-athletes for the 2014-15 academic year. The signing class includes Alexis Williams (Blue Springs, Mo.), Bristol Lewis (Stilwell, Kan.) and Sarah Dannettell (Windsor, Colo.). All three players will be freshmen starting in the fall, 2014.

“All three of these players have the potential to do great things within this program,” said Woerth. “We are looking forward to developing their talents even further.”

Williams is a 5-10 middle who played at Blue Springs High School for coach Katie Grusing. A two-time letter winner, Williams was a Missouri all-star and earned second-team all conference honors. This season, she has recorded over 200 kills, 93 blocks and 30 service aces for the Wildcats. She played club volleyball for the Asics Mavs and coach Debbie Lepley.

“Alexis brings quickness and athleticism to our front row,” explained Woerth. “I like that she has played high level club volleyball and she will add a lot of value to our team both offensively and defensively.”

Lewis played for head coach Nancy Dorsey at St. James Academy, one of the premier high school programs in the Midwest. This year, the Thunder successfully defended the 2013 Kansas 5A state title, finishing a perfect 27-0. Lewis, also an accomplished track and field athlete, won the state title in the 4×400 and took second in the 4×100 as a junior. She has qualified for the state track and field championships three times.

“Bristol played for one of the best high schools in the nation (St.James Academy) and being a state champion not only in volleyball but also track showed us that she’s a winner,” Woerth said. “Her athleticism and winning experiences will be a great addition to our team.”

Dannettell was an all-conference setter for head coach Paul Schimek at Fossil Ridge High School. She earned all-state academic honors as a junior and was a two-time team captain. Dannettell also served as team captain on her club team, Norco 18 Black, where she played for Jarred Ruideger. During her time at Fossil Ridge, she has lettered in volleyball four times, track and field three times and has served two years on the student council executive board.

“When looking for a setter, I wanted to find a player who is a great leader, a hard worker, a competitor and someone who has high character,” said Woerth. “I feel like Sarah embodies all those characteristics very well and she truly understands the responsibilities the setter position requires. I’m excited to see her development and leadership influences on this program.”

— Northwest Sports Information —