Northwest Missouri State junior Alicia Watson was named to the second-team CoSIDA All-District Academic Team Thursday as announced by the organization.

Watson, a defensive specialist for the Bearcats, has seen action in 23 matches for the Bearcats with 107 digs for a 1.27 dig per set average. She has also recorded nine service aces and 12 assists on the season. The junior also carries a .943 serving percentage in the weekend’s final action of the season for the Bearcats. A native of Shawnee Mission, Kan. Watson carries a 4.00 GPA in Corporate Recreation and Wellness.

Northwest closes out its season as they travel to Southwest Baptist on Friday and Missouri Southern on Saturday. The Bearcats are coming off an emotional 3-1 win over Pittsburg State on senior night.

The Academic All‐District ® teams include the student‐athletes listed on the following pages and are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the first year of the expanded Academic All‐America® program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non‐Division I) and doubles the number of scholar‐athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two‐year schools.

The Capital One Division II and III Academic All‐America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011‐12 DII and DIII Academic All‐America® teams program. First‐team Academic All‐District ® honorees advance to the Capital One

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State head coach Gene Steinmeyer has announced the early signing of Tember Schechinger to a national letter of intent for the 2012-13 season.

“Tember is a guard who can wear a lot of hats,” said Steinmeyer. “She is an excellent shooter and her aggressiveness on both ends of the court is what caught my eye.”

Schechinger signs with the Bearcats after being recruited by all levels including interest from several Division I schools. She helped led IKM-Manning High, (Manilla, Iowa) to a 19-5 record last year as a junior averaging 13.5 points per game and shooting 52 percent from the field earning First Team All-State honors from the Iowa Girls Coaches Association. She was named All-District and First Team All-Western Valley Conference for the Iowa state tournament qualifier.

She also recorded 94 assists and 87 steals during her junior campaign and added 33 blocks from her guard position. Schechinger played AAU for the Iowa Attack and earned 2011 “Best Basketball Players of AAU” recognition over the previous two summers.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team fell 79-59 in its only exhibition action of the season to the University of Iowa Sunday afternoon at Hawkeye-Carver Arena.

With three players returning who saw major action last season for head coach Ben McCollum, Northwest was able to hang with the Iowa Hawkeyes in front of 10,854 fans. The Bearcats open the regular season on Friday at UMKC with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

McCollum saw 10 different Bearcats score against the Hawkeyes as they hustled their way to just a nine point deficit at intermission. Northwest would pull within one of the Hawkeyes twice in the first half as the second came on a DeAngelo Hailey three-pointer just under the nine minute mark in the first half.

Iowa would answer just 30 seconds later with a three-pointer of their own from Bryce Cartwright pulling ahead 21-17. Foul trouble allowed the Hawkeyes to increase their lead, but Northwest would manage to keep the Iowa lead under 10 in the first half.

A hot shooting Hawkeye team would build their lead to as many as 14 points to start the second half, but a resilient Northwest squad fought back to pull within nine at the 10:41 mark in the game on a Justin Clark jumper. Clark led Northwest in scoring with 13 points and made one of three treys by the Bearcats.

The Hawkeyes were able to shoot 35 percent from beyond the three-point line while Northwest shot only 15 percent. The Bearcats also struggled at the free throw line shooting 57 percent on 12 of 21 as Iowa shot 80 percent going 25 of 31.

Clark added five rebounds and three assists to his team high 13 points to lead Northwest in all three categories.

Jake Reinders also finished in double figures with 10 points for Northwest in the loss.

All-Big 10 guard Matt Gatens led all players with a game high 17 points.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State University volleyball team fell to the No. 7 Central Missouri Jennies 3-0 Saturday night.

Northwest falls to 11-17 on the season and 5-10 in the MIAA falling to the Jennies in straight sets, 25-19, 25-22, and 25-18.  The Jennies improved to 24-4 on the year and 14-1 in league play.

Northwest was held in check hitting .214 while Central Missouri hit .366 for the match.

Abby Graves led the attack for Northwest recording a team high 13 kills in the match.  Brooke Bartosh and Amy Majors chipped in 8 and 7 kills respectively.

Laira Akin recorded 36 assists in the match and 10 digs to record her 16th double-double of the season.

Tori Beckman led the defense recording 11 digs in the loss, while Alicia Watson added 8.

The Bearcats were plagued by errors Saturday night recording 17 attack errors and 7 service errors while the Jennies recorded a combined 14 errors.

With the win the No. 7 Jennies have won their last 19 out of 20.  Central Missouri was led by Paula Harris who recorded 17 kills in the match and hit a hot .556.  Julia Bates pitched in 38 assists in the win for the Jennies.

Up Next: The Bearcats will play their final home game of the 2011 season Tuesday, Nov. 8 when they host the Pittsburg State Gorillas.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State ran into a hot hitting Truman State squad knocking off the Bearcats 3-1 Friday night in MIAA action inside Pershing Arena.

The Bearcats have now dropped four of their last five as they fell to 11-16 overall and 5-9 in league play. TSU improved to 18-12 and 7-7 in conference play. Northwest quickly returns to action as they travel to Central Missouri Saturday night.

Northwest hung with the Bulldogs in the first set, but a hot hitting TSU squad only made four errors in each of the first two sets as they went on to a 25-20, 25-18, 12-25, 25-21 win. The Bulldogs also hit close to .400 in each of the first two sets to take the 2-0 lead into intermission.

The Bearcats comeback would begin in the third set as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in set three. However, unlike the Bearcats have done so many times this season a comeback was not in the cards for Northwest.

Amy Majors would put together one of her top offensive performances of the year with 14 kills hitting an amazing .542. Majors was responsible for 17.5 of the Bearcats’ points as they took the third set in dominating fashion 25-21.

TSU would close out the match with a 25-21 win in set three as Northwest could never overtake the Bulldogs.

Laira Akin also was solid again recording 42 assists and 13 double-doubles.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State University women’s soccer team’s 2011 season was ended Friday night as the No. 10 Central Missouri Jennies rolled to a 4-0 win over the Bearcats in the semi-final round of the 2011 MIAA Soccer Championship Tournament.

The Jennies (18-1, 8-0 MIAA) jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than ten minutes into the match, when Kristin Bright hammered the ball past Bearcat goalkeeper Kelsey Adams.   Central Missouri would strike again just a minute later when Becky Lackey punched the ball into the net off of a Nicki Wisnasky cross to make it 2-0 Jennies.  Audrey Copenhaver made it 3-0 Jennies in the 35th minute off of a pass from Aaryn Burke.  It was Copenhaver’s first goal of the season.

For the half, the Jennies outshot the Bearcats 4-2 and held a 6-2 advantage over the Bearcats in corner kicks.

Central Missouri goalkeeper Brooke Cooley recorded 2 saves in the half.

The Jennies didn’t waste any time at the start of the second half, increasing their lead to 4-0 less than a minute into the half when Wisnasky controlled a perfectly positioned pass from Lackey and slipped it past Northwest goalkeeper Kelsey Adams.

Central Missouri tallied 17 shots in the match with 12 shots-on-goal while Northwest was held to 4 shots total, 3 of those on goal.

Bearcat goalkeeper Kelsey Adams recorded eight saves in the match.  Adams recorded a total of 117 saves during the 2011 season and finished the season with a 10-7-2 record.

In all, five seniors played their final game for the Bearcats Friday.  Midfielder Hannah Silvey, forward Tammie Eiberger, midfielder Kelly Obley, defender Jacque Dedovesh, and forward Erica Hatcher all stepped onto the field in Bearcat uniforms for their final time.

Northwest finishes the 2011 season with a 10-6-2 record and a 5-3 mark in MIAA play; the third best record in program history.  The Bearcats placed fourth in the conference standings.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State sophomore Jordan Albright was honored Friday by the College Sports Information Directors of America and Capital One as one of the nation’s top student‐athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

Albright, a sophomore defender from Webster Groves, Mo., carries a 3.30 GPA in biology earning her second team accolades. She has also helped the Bearcats to a 10-6-2 record and a trip to the MIAA tournament semifinals. The sophomore helped Northwest pitch two shutouts on the year and represented the Bearcats as one of four MIAA teams to place players on the All-District team.

The Academic All‐District ® teams include the student‐athletes listed on the following pages and are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the first year of the expanded Academic All‐America® program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and doubles the number of scholar‐athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two‐year schools.

The Capital One Division II and III Academic All‐America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2011‐12 DII and DIII Academic All‐America® teams program.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The second goal Northwest Missouri State soccer team scored was as beautiful as the 4-2 victory over Emporia State Thursday evening at UMKC.

“They took care of their possessions,” Northwest coach Tracy Hoza said of the Bearcats. “The last two games we didn’t take care of the final product and the final product is always putting the ball in the back of the net.”

The best example came in the 57th minute. Junior forward Amanda Bundrant delivered a textbook pass to sophomore midfielder Emilee Davidson on the left side of the box.

Davidson took the pass and struck the ball perfectly, hitting a diagonal shot into the far corner of the goal that left Emporia State goalkeeper Nikki Schmitz helpless. The goal gave Northwest a 2-0 lead.

“I knew I had to aim for the far post. The keeper was giving me that far side,” Davidson said.

The win was significant for the Bearcats. It was their first-ever in the MIAA Soccer Championship Tournament.

The only other time there was a MIAA Soccer Tournament was in 2007. Only four teams made it and the Bearcats were not one of them. Those few notes on the brief tournament history are really a moot point to the 2011 Bearcats.

Because the Bearcats offense was clicking at such a high level, they are moving on to the semifinals and will play top seed Central Missouri 4 p.m. Friday at UMKC.

It is a daunting task for Northwest, which improved to 10-6-2. Central Missouri is 17-1 and ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division II.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” said Northwest sophomore midfielder Anna Calgaard. “They are a really good team, but after this game I think our team has a lot of confidence and I know we can get it done. We can score goals against them.”

Based on the way it played Thursday, Northwest appears ready for the challenge. The Bearcats had many stars like sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Adams, who had several tremendous saves when the game was still close.

Equally impressive was Calgaard, who returned from getting kicked in the nose in the second half and scored the third and fourth goals for the Bearcats.

“It stung a little, but I’m used to it now,” Calgaard said.

The way Northwest was playing defense, the two-goal lead that Davidson gave them early in the second half appeared to be more than enough.

“It helps a lot,” Davidson said. “We should be secure now. Obviously, they got two goals on us, which is not helpful. We got a little too comfortable.”

The Bearcats built a 3-0 lead on a penalty kick by Calgaard that came because of a handball by Emporia State in the box in the 64th minute.

“Every goal is an important goal,” Calgaard said. “We’ve been practicing PKs in practice so I wasn’t that worried about it. I just needed to go to the corner.”

Perhaps the huge lead caused Northwest to relax a tad on defense. Emporia State kept playing hard despite the enormous deficit it faced.

The Hornets finally scored in the 66th minute on a goal by Jessica Decker. Seven minutes later, Calgaard scored again for a commanding 4-1 lead.

Interestingly, Calgaard was confident about Northwest scoring goals in the first round of the conference tournament.

Northwest finished the regular season with two straight losses and only scored one goal.

“We were talking on the bus and everybody was really confident for this game,” Calgaard said. “We just knew we were going to kill it. Sometimes you have feelings about games and this game I knew it would be a good one.”

Northwest played a solid a first half, putting pressure on Emporia State defense by constantly pushing forward.

The Bearcats were tight on defense. One time when the Hornets threatened in the 35th minute, senior defender Jacque Dedovesh quickly stopped the ball from reaching Adams. Dedovesh kicked the ball away from Kelsey Haist.

The Hornets had one other scoring opportunity with 3 minutes left. Northwest defense closed in and prevented Emporia State from challenging Adams.

“Both teams played really well in the first half offensively and defensively,” sophomore forward Tori Von Mende said. “Our defense was awesome in the first half. Our defense kept us in the game.”

The stingy defense made the goal scored by Von Mende in the 18th minute look like a three-goal advantage.

“It was a real uplifting thing,” Von Mende said. “We definitely didn’t want to tie and go into overtime and deal with all of that. Getting one ahead is a starter for everything else.”

— David Boyce – NWMSU Sports Information —