MARYVILLE, Mo. – With 1.6 seconds left and the game tied, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team was in position for its first MIAA victory.

Junior Taylor Shull looked for one teammate and then another and finally she zipped a pass to sophomore Shelby Mustain, who tossed in the game-winning basket at the buzzer.

“Where were my teammates,” Mustain said of her thoughts immediately following the basket. “I am ready to celebrate.

“We were in the locker room and it felt like we won the national championship. We wanted that win so bad. It was such a team effort and such a team win. I just couldn’t wait to get to my teammates.”

The 66-64 victory by Northwest over Southwest Baptist Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena was a case of a team tired of losing conference games.

“We have seen a lot of growth in the last week to week and a half with our players,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “It was nice to do this in front of Bearcat nation. Our crowd was great tonight.

“More importantly, I’m just glad our kids stayed composed. I felt like when they made some runs, we didn’t force it and try to make a five-point shot. We slowly came back and got a bucket at a time and put ourselves in position and got some stops when we needed them.”

Northwest didn’t back down when it trailed by 13 points in the first half, nor did the Bearcats wilt when they were down 58-49 with 8:13 to go.

“We were going to fight and give it our all,” said Northwest senior Ariel Easton, who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. “Something we stressed to everyone is when you are out there, leave everything on the court.”

A layup by freshman Tanya Meyer, who sparked Northwest late in the first half, ignited the Bearcats again.

Junior Tember Schechinger followed with a basket, helping Northwest close to 58-53 with more than 6 minutes left.

Even though Northwest held the lead for less than two minutes in the contest, the Bearcats played with the confidence of a team who held a lead most of the game.

Schechinger pulled Northwest to within two at 64-62 with 2:59 left. At that point, it was obvious the Bearcats were not going to be denied a win.

A little over a minute later, Mustain tied the game at 64-64. Over the last four minutes, Northwest played stellar defense. Southwest Baptist final points came with 4:05 left in the game.

Northwest played winning basketball on both ends of the court. The Bearcats shot 52 percent from the field in the game.

“Hearing that statistic made our team light up because earlier in the season everyone was struggling with their confidence,” Mustain said. “Over the last few games we have been playing better. Our confidence has gone up.

“We all trust each other shooting the ball and knowing that it is going to be a quality shot and more than likely it is going to go in.”

Defensively, Northwest held Southwest Baptist to 33 percent from the field in the second half.

“At the end of the day, our players made plays and that is the growth we are making as a team,” Smith said.

Just when it looked like silly turnovers were going to send Northwest into halftime with another double-digit deficit, the Bearcats rose up and played their most inspired basketball in the final 3 minutes of the first half.

Northwest trailed 37-24 and was in bad shape with 3:12 left in the first half. The amazing turnaround that led to a 38-37 halftime lead for Northwest started with a three-point play by Meyer.

Meyer followed with her first three-point field goal of her young career, pulling Northwest to within seven at 37-30.

“It was huge,” Easton said Meyer’s baskets. “We let down our energy a lot in the first half and that kind of killed us. When she hit those two shots it brought that spark back.”

Morgan Walker took over and scored on consecutive buckets. Easton brought the Bearcats to only one point behind with a basket and Schechinger sent Northwest into halftime with a one-point lead on a layup.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – For the first time in 2015, the shots failed to drop consistently for Northwest Missouri State and it resulted in a 70-64 loss to Washburn Saturday at Bearcat Arena.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and dropped Northwest to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA. Washburn improved to a 9-9 and 4-3.

“They were just tougher than us tonight,” Northwest senior Matt Wallace said.

Northwest lost its offensive rhythm late in the first half and never got on track in the second half.

The Bearcats were in reasonably good shape when the second half started. They trailed by just one point.

Washburn scored the first six points in the second half for a 35-28 lead. Freshman Justin Pitts finally scored for Northwest, ending a 15-0 run by Washburn.

“We had some turnovers and missed some shots and didn’t get to the paint as much as we needed to,” Wallace said. “That hurt.

“I don’t know if we thought we were going to blow them out like the last few games. It didn’t work out for us today.”

Pitts’ basket did not ignite a run. Northwest had trouble putting together consecutive baskets.

Washburn did a great job taking away points in the paint, and the three-pointer wasn’t falling with any consistency for the Bearcats.

Because of the missed shots, Northwest needed to rebound well, but Washburn pulled down 15 more rebounds than the Bearcats.

Another thing that hurt Northwest was the number of fouls called that prevented any flow from starting. The Bearcats operate best when the action is not stopped nearly every minute. There were a total of 49 fouls call, 28 of them on the Bearcats.

“It definitely hurt our rhythm,” junior Conner Crooker said. “We had to stop and then set up. They (Ichabods) did a good job of taking away things. We just have to be more focused.”

The Bearcats, who haven’t had foul trouble much this season, saw Zach Schneider, Justin Pitts and Grant Cozad all foul out.

To his credit, Wallace placed the blame on the loss on the Bearcats for not playing hard enough to earn the victory.

“To me, it felt like they wanted it more than us,” Wallace said. “They showed they weren’t going to go away and maybe we thought they would give it to us instead of taking it away from them.”

Northwest played so well in its previous three games that it would have been hard to maintain that level the rest of the season.

The Bearcats will look to bounce back 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Southwest Baptist.

Northwest definitely want to forget the last 5 minutes of the first half on Saturday. Northwest offense bogged down and that allowed Washburn to score the last nine points and go into halftime with a 29-28.

It was the first time in 2015 that Northwest trailed at halftime. For much of the first half, it looked like the Bearcats was going to have the lead at the break.

After five lead changes, Northwest took an 11-9 lead on a three-pointer Schneider. Schneider broke an 11-11 with his patented four-point play. He does it once a game.

Slowly, Northwest grew its lead to 26-15 and then the Bearcats hit their first significant cold spell of the new year.

Still, Northwest shot 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but allowed Washburn to shoot 55 percent.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team matured from a baby step in its last game to a teenager step Saturday in its 77-65 loss to No. 13 ranked Washburn at Bearcat Arena.

Junior Tember Schechinger felt that improvement from everybody on the team.

“Like I said in the locker room before coach came in, even though we lost, we are making huge strides,” Schechinger said. “We are cutting back on turnovers. We are playing the entire game. As long as we are not going backwards, forward is all we are looking at.”

Based on how the Bearcats played for most of the game, they are poised to step into victory lane in a MIAA game on Wednesday when they play at home against Southwest Baptist.

“I have just seen a different look in this team the last few days,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “The Oklahoma trip wasn’t fun for anybody. Our kids knew it.

“As a coach, all you can ask for are kids going to battle for you. I am really pleased with this group in general. They had a no-give-up attitude. Win or lose, I will coach that any day of the week. I am very proud of them now.”

It appeared Northwest’s first conference win was going to come Saturday. The Bearcats held a six-point lead at halftime.

With 12:52 left in the game, the Bearcats still had a six-point lead when Schechinger drained her third three-pointer of the game, making it 49-43.

“You have Tember Schechinger who is battling an ankle injury and didn’t even practice yesterday,” Smith said. “She came off the bench and gave us 20 points.”

A minute after her three-pointer, Schechinger made another basket, which made it 51-45 and a minute after that, senior Ariel Easton made a bucket, keeping the Bearcats in front by six at 53-47.

“What I am excited about is Ariel Easton was back tonight because I don’t think she understands what she means to her teammates,” Smith said. “It showed tonight, feeding off her energy. I am proud of her effort.”

After Easton’s basket, the game slipped away from Northwest. Washburn grabbed a 54-53 lead on a three-pointer by Washburn senior Casyn Buchman.

Northwest took its last lead at 55-54 on a basket by freshman Tanya Meyer.

But Buchman struck again with another three-pointer, putting Washburn back in front 57-54. The Ichabods never trailed again. Buchman scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half.

Washburn slowly pulled away from Northwest, but the final score was not indicative of the way the Bearcats played most of the game.

“I am proud of my teammates as well,” said Easton, who finished with 17 points. “As far as me individually, it has been a struggle. I felt tonight, I did the little things like diving on the floor and giving my teammates energy as much as I  could. It was fun tonight.”

In the first half, Northwest played its best half of the season and went into halftime ahead 34-28.

Throughout the first half, the Bearcats played with confidence and energy. And most important, they valued the basketball. There were very few unforced turnovers.

The point where Northwest showed it was in a different mode came when it trailed 14-8. In the past, the deficit would have ballooned to 10 or 15 points by halftime.

Instead, the Bearcats put together a great stretch of offensive basketball. It started with a basket by Schechinger followed by field goal by Shelby Mustain.

Morgan Walker made a basket to tie the game at 14-14 and a three-pointer by Schechinger gave Northwest its first lead at 17-14 with 8:28 remaining in the first half.

The best part was the Bearcats weren’t done. In all, it was a 15-1 run that gave Northwest a 23-15 lead.

“It was really nice seeing that,” Schechinger said. “Everybody played well. You didn’t notice when we subbed. This game was such a different pace for everyone. I am so pleased with everyone who came in to play today. I felt I could trust my teammates.”

Perhaps the biggest moment for Northwest came immediately after Washburn made a three-point play and closed to 25-20. Schechinger answered with her second three-pointer of the half.

It was just about a perfect half for Northwest. The Bearcats shot 54 percent from the field and committed only six turnovers while holding Washburn to 33 percent shooting.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Nebraska-Kearney did a superior job of taking away the three-pointer from Northwest Missouri State Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest knocked down its first three-pointer of the game 4 minutes into the second half. It was clear Northwest was not going to come close to matching the 12 three-pointers it made Monday at Northeastern State or the 17 it drained Saturday at Central Oklahoma.

It simply did not matter. Northwest put on a masterful display of scoring in the paint in its 80-48 victory over the Lopers.

“That started to work pretty well for us,” Northwest senior forward Grant Cozad said of all the layups. “You can ask Justin Pitts. He found all the holes there. He was dissecting them.

“He got past them and if they guarded him or double teamed him, he threw it up and we went and got it. It seemed to be working pretty good for us.”

Northwest heads into Saturday’s afternoon game at home against Washburn with a 12-2 overall record and 5-1 in the MIAA. Nebraska-Kearney dropped to 8-5 and 4-3.

The fact that the Lopers are a good team with a good record is what made the performance by Northwest Thursday evening so outstanding.

When sophomore Zach Schneider made the first three-pointer of the game for the Bearcats, it gave them a 53-30 lead with 16:03 left.

Northwest built its huge league on tenacious defense, pinpoint passing and dazzling layups.

“It was very good because people who scout us won’t just focus on our three-pointers,” Pitts said. “Now they will focus on our drives.”

It was another total team effort. By the time senior Matt Wallace hit a jumper in the paint with 13:50 left, Northwest held a 62-33 lead. The game was over except for the remaining time on the clock.

Pitts led Northwest with 19 points, Wallace scored 14, Cozad and Brett Dougherty each had 13.

Cozad, who is in his fifth season with Northwest, has been on some very good teams with some of the best players in the MIAA like DeShaun Cooper and Dillon Starzl. Last year’s team went 24-9 and reached the regional finals. The 2012-13 team went 22-9 and the 2011-12 team finished 22-7.

Cozad, though, is sensing something special is happening with the current edition of the Bearcats.

Of course, he was careful in how he worded his answer because he is good friends with his former teammates. He respected the way they played at Northwest. His response perfectly characterizes this year’s team. They are respectful to each other and respectful to the game by the way they play it.

“I have seen a lot of good players here,” Cozad said. “Obviously, Cooper, but as a team, as a cohesive unit, I would say this might be the best team I have been on. We all understand each other. We are around each other all the time. We hang out together off the court, too.

“No offense to the teams in past years. This team is fun to play with. This is my last year. I am going to enjoy it. It is going to be a fun ride.”

In the first half, Northwest put up only four three-pointers and missed all of them, but went into half time with a commanding 41-25 lead.

The Bearcats proved that they are much more than a mad-bombing team. They can score in the paint. They did it almost at will against a frontline that was 6-7, 6-7, 6-6.

The layup drill Northwest put on in the first half was a thing a beauty. The conductor of this first-half masterpiece was Pitts.

Early in the first half, Pitts slithered his way inside and then slipped a pass to Cozad who finished with a couple of layups that pushed Northwest lead to 15-6.

“They make my job so easy,” Cozad said. “You have Zach and Conner who can shoot it lights out. You can’t double them. You have Pitts, who can go by anybody. It is all about patience.”

Several minutes later, Pitts found freshman Brett Dougherty for a bucket in the paint that gave Northwest a 23-11.

Nearly every player on the court got in on this spectacular layup drill. Crooker had a couple of nice drives into the paint for baskets. Wallace and sophomore Anthony Wood also participated.

But it was the magical moves of Pitts in the latter half of the first half that stole the show. Pitts, standing, 5-9, was fearless driving to the basket and finishing against players nearly a foot taller than him.

“It comes from practice and our scout teams we practice against,” Pitts said.

Northwest played equally well on the defensive end, making it hard for the Lopers too put together much of a run even though they had capable scorers on the outside and inside.

The Bearcats held Nebraska-Kearney to 38 percent from the field while shooting 63 percent in the first half.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team took its first baby steps to a MIAA victory Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Although the Bearcats eventually lost 71-54 to Nebraska-Kearney, they held a lead in the second half against a MIAA opponent.

Northwest was in good shape 3 minutes into the second half. Leading 32-31, senior Ariel Easton made a basket that gave the Bearcats a 34-31 with 16:40 left.

Nothing in the first 23 minutes hinted at what was about to come next. The Bearcats were getting consistent offense from juniors Taylor Shull and Morgan Walker.

The most Northwest trailed in the first half was five points and that came in the final minute.

It appeared the Bearcats were going to avoid the long scoring droughts, which have plagued them in conference play.

Unfortunately, it struck again. Northwest went cold and Nebraska-Kearney got hot. The Lopers went on a 16-0 run and took a 47-34 lead.

The Bearcats finally got on the scoreboard again on two free throws by freshman Tanya Meyer with 11:25 left in the game.

Meyer made two free throws and layup that helped Northwest close to 49-40. But the Bearcats were unable to put together a scoring run.

Nebraska-Kearney simply had too much offence from sophomore Kelsey Fitzgerald, who finished with 17 points and freshman McKenzie Brown, who finished with 19 points.

Leading the way for Northwest was Shull and junior Tember Schechinger, who each scored 10 points.

Despite going into halftime down 28-25, Northwest played its best first half against MIAA competition this season.

Past the halfway point in the first half, Northwest grabbed a 17-16 lead on a basket by Walker, who shot the ball with confidence and scored six points in the first 20 minutes. Baskets by Walker also tied the game at 19-19 and 23-23.

Nebraska-Kearney scored the next five points, but the Bearcats refused to let their deficit grow too big. Shelby Mustain field goal in the paint pulled Northwest to within three points.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The three-point bug that hit sophomore Zach Schneider two days ago, spread to some of his Northwest Missouri State teammates Monday evening. Northeastern State certainly didn’t have a cure for it.

While not a fan of using youth culture slang, the way Northwest is currently shooting the three-pointer is sick.

Here is a little help for the older generation on what that means. The online slang dictionary defines sick as great, amazing, cool and awesome.

These are the superlatives needed to describe the first-half shooting performance by the Bearcats. They went 10 for 14 on three-pointers and built a 29-point halftime lead on the way to an 83-59 victory at NSU Event Center.

“We just wanted to keep the momentum rolling from our win at UCO,” said Northwest senior Grant Cozad, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

“We wanted to click on all cylinders and that is what happened. Zach was still hot from the three and that helped us out there.”

The win lifted Northwest to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. It was also the 100th career victory for Northwest coach Ben McCollum.

“The only thing it means is that I have coached a lot of good players and had some really good assistants,” McCollum said. “That is just a result of getting those quality kids in the program and getting quality coaches in this program. The 100 wins are attributed to them.”

If it was just a ho hum, pedestrian win, McCollum would have received top billing for his first significant milestone win in his young coaching career.

What the Bearcats did on the court in the first half was special. Schneider picked up where he left off Saturday with his record-breaking performance of nine three-pointers. He drilled a three-pointer early on to give Northwest a 5-2 lead.

A possession or two later, freshman Justin Pitts hit a three-pointer for an 8-4 lead.

Northeastern had its eye on Schneider, but forgot about junior Conner Crooker, who hit a corner three-pointer with 15:19 left in the first half that gave Northwest a 17-7 lead.

“We are starting games off really well,” Cozad said. “The first five minutes of the first half are big because we can build up that momentum and carry it through the game.”

The barrage of three-pointers midway through the first half was dazzling. A three-pointer by Schneider made it 20-14, and then a three-pointer by Crooker increased the lead to 23-14 and then another trey by Schneider made it 26-14.

“It was a carry over from the UCO game,” said Pitts, who finished with 20 points and five assists. “Zach was still lighting it up and I was starting to feel it a little bit. We have confidence in each other to make threes.”

The outside shooting was so remarkable that the stellar defense Northwest was playing was easy to overlook.

Northwest held the RiverHawks to 39 percent from the field in the first half. It allowed Northwest to build a 41-19 lead. Northwest’s lead grew to 53-21 late in the first half.

Schneider was four for six on three-pointers in the first half and Pitts and Crooker were each three for four beyond the arc.

“It is a pretty good feeling,” said Schneider, who finished with five three-pointers and 15 points. “You don’t have to do anything. You just let it fly and it goes in.

“I thought Conner was going to break my record at the start. I was worried I was only going to have it for one night. I feel like us three can outshoot anyone.”

It is not often a team at any level shoots 71 percent on three-pointers on more than 10 attempts.

“It is the shots that we are taking,” McCollum said. “That is the more important aspect other than the fact they are going in. We are getting shots for the shooters we want to shoot.”

With such a huge halftime lead, it would have been understandable for the Bearcats to lose some intensity in the second half. But with 14:43 left in the game, Northwest held a 63-33 lead.

Northwest wasn’t nearly as hot from the outside in the second half, but the Bearcats hard-nosed play frustrated Northeastern into getting two technical fouls.

The Bearcats were in such control that with 6:22 left and leading 77-49, McCollum was able to pull four starters and get the back-ups some minutes.

“I thought we defended well in the first half and got the looks we wanted,” McCollum said. “I still think we can play even better. There were a few lulls that happened throughout the game. It is something we will address and fix going into Thursday home game against Nebraska-Kearney.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team played tenacious defense in the first half. The Bearcats came out focused. They just had one glaring problem Monday evening against Northeastern State at NSU Event Center.

Once again, Northwest struggled on offense. The Bearcats made only five field goals and scored 14 points in the first half. It put them a 15-point halftime deficit.

Northwest simply didn’t have enough firepower to dig out of that hole. The Bearcats lost 59-45, but they did outscore Northeastern 31-30 in the second half.

The first couple of minutes, Northwest played well enough to win. The first points came on a well-executed play in which the ball was fed inside to sophomore center Shelby Mustain, who scored, giving the Bearcats an early 2-0 lead.

The RiverHawks scored the next four points. Northwest recaptured the lead on a three-pointer by freshman Bailey Smith.

From all appearances, Northwest looked ready to battle the RiverHawks throughout the entire first half.

But the Bearcats went ice cold. Northeastern found some offensive rhythm and went on a 17-5 run for a 21-10 lead.

In the closing minutes, Northeastern drained two more three-pointers and took a 29-14 lead into halftime.

Instead of folding, the Bearcats showed plenty of grit in the final half of a long road trip by MIAA standards.

Northwest could have easily tossed in the towel on the fourth day away from Maryville.  But a three-pointer by freshman Alexa Shaaf and field goals by Mustain and senior Ariel Easton in less than 2 minutes into the second half allowed the Bearcats to close to 29-21.

After the RiverHawks made a basket, Easton hit a three-pointer and suddenly Northwest was down seven at 31-24.

For the first 6 minutes of the second half, Northwest had its best offensive production of the season against MIAA competition. When junior Morgan Walker made a field goal at the 14:31 mark, Northwest trailed 34-28.

Unfortunately, the Bearcats could not sustain their offensive output. Northeastern went on a 15-4 run for a 49-32 lead.

Mustain finished the game with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-best 12 rebounds. Easton added nine points and three assists.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla – The exemplary team basketball that Northwest Missouri State displayed in its 91-70 victory over Central Oklahoma Saturday evening makes it  almost irresponsible to single out one player.

But the shooting performance of sophomore Zach Schneider at Hamilton Field House was one for the Northwest record books. He made nine three-pointers and scored 29 points.

“I think it is the most prepared we have been all season,” Schneider said. “Wally (Matt Wallace), Pitts and Conner did a great job of being strong with the ball. Early on, they broke the press and I was sitting alone in the corner.

“They can break any traps. That is pretty much what happened.”

The nine three-pointers by Schneider broke the previous mark of eight, done five times by four players, including Northwest current assistant coach Austin Meyer.

“He (Meyer) was adamant about taking him out,” Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said. “He said, ‘he is playing horrible, let’s get him out of there.’

“Zach hits number nine and Austin has his head down, pouting and crying.”

Obviously, McCollum is joking.

“He didn’t do any of that,” McCollum said. “He did say something afterwards. He looked at the box score and said, ‘ah, he broke it.'”

One thing that made Schneider’s performance truly remarkable was it came against a team that entered the game in sole possession of first place in the MIAA. Also, he was 9-for-10 on three-point shots.

“It was kind of an out-of-body experience,” Schneider said. “It was pretty neat, obviously. I will take it every time.”

The impressive road win by the Bearcats will definitely get attention across the MIAA. Northwest improved to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA. Central Oklahoma dropped to 11-3 and 4-1.

“They snapped a long winning streak at Warrensburg,” Schneider said. “We knew it was a big game for us if we want to accomplish one of our preseason goals which is to win conference.”

Schneider’s record-breaking trey came with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left. It gave Northwest a commanding 83-63 lead.

The thing that made Northwest’s victory so stunning was the way it dominated the second half.

Central Oklahoma proved in the first half that it had scorers at every position. Every time Northwest got a little separation, the Bronchos came back.

The second half was much different. The credit goes to the way Northwest shared the basketball and patiently broke the trapping defense applied by the Bronchos.

Schneider quickly pushed the Bearcats lead back to 10 at 48-38 at the start of the second half when he drilled his seventh three-pointer of the game.

“I thought we handled their runs well and handled their pressure well and really engaged in our scouting report and what we were supposed to do,” McCollum said. “We did something a little different on post defense, and we only worked on it for two days and our kids executed it to perfection. It says a lot about our concentration.”

Northwest took a double-digit lead for good at 51-41 on another three-pointer by Schneider.

“It makes it pretty easy,” Wallace said of Schneider shooting. “You know who to look for. It is nice when he is wide open in the corner all night long. It doesn’t make my job hard.”

The Bearcats’ lead reached 20 when Anthony Woods made a basket, giving Northwest a 65-44 lead with 13:45 left in the game.

Central Oklahoma never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Another encouraging sign for the Bearcats was the way freshman forward Brett Dougherty finished in the paint. He made five field goals and scored 11 points.

“It was nice for my confidence just because I have been missing some easy ones that I could have finished,” Dougherty said. “More than anything, just for personal confidence, it meant a lot to me.”

Pitts had his normal solid game of 17 points and junior Conner Crooker scored 13 despite foul trouble.

“We are a really unselfish team,” Dougherty said. “A lot of people scored and contributed. It was a lot of fun.”

Throughout the first half, Northwest got plenty of evidence that Central Oklahoma is a very good team.

Each time the Bearcats built a double-digit lead, Central Oklahoma roared back. The best example came with 2 minutes left before half. Schneider nailed his sixth three-pointer of the half and was fouled on the play. After Schneider completed the four-point play, Northwest held a 44-31 lead.

The Bronchos took over and scored six of the last seven points. Northwest held a 45-37 lead at halftime.

Central Oklahoma did a great job of moving the ball around to create open shots. The Bronchos shot 65 percent from the field in the first half.

It was the 11 turnovers that Northwest created that allowed the Bearcats to take 11 more shots than Central Oklahoma in the first half.

Many of the attempts by the Bearcats were three-pointers and they went in. Northwest was 9-for-14 from three-point land in the first half.

The game started with a three-pointer by senior Matt Wallace that gave Northwest a 3-0 lead. Central Oklahoma scored the next seven points for a 7-3 lead.

Schneider got hot. His first three-pointer gave Northwest an 8-7 lead and his second one increased the lead to 13-9. He followed that with a third to make the score 16-11.

Northwest’s first double-digit lead was 29-19, which came on another three-pointer by Schneider. It was a career half for Schneider, who scored 20 points in the first half. He eclipsed his previous career-high in three-pointers of five in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bronchos, though, had a couple of players just as hot from three-point range. Seth Heckart was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and Garen Wright was 2-for-3.

The lights-out shooting made for an entertaining half of basketball.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – In the last few minutes of the first half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball coach Michael Smith kept saying, “we have more turnovers than points.”

It was a true statement until the final seconds of the first half when freshman Alexa Schaaf swished a three-pointer. It was the 15th point of the half. The Bearcats had 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

Northwest never recovered from the 19-point halftime deficit and lost 68-38 to Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

The Bearcats started well. Two baskets by junior Tember Schechinger and another by sophomore Shelby Mustain gave Northwest an early 6-4 lead.

The field goal that gave Northwest the two-point lead caused Central Oklahoma coach Guy Hardaker to call timeout with 17:24 left in the first half.

Momentum changed from that point on. Turnovers by Northwest prevented the Bearcats from putting up a shot in three straight possessions. The Bronchos took advantage, spurting to a 9-6 lead.

After junior Morgan Walker hit 15-foot jumper that closed the gap to 9-8, the Bearcats went ice cold. Central Oklahoma got hot.

The Bronchos went on a 22-2 run for a 31-10 lead. Despite a couple of baskets by Northwest in the final minute of the first half, the Bearcats went into halftime down 34-15.

Northwest went 7-for-26 from the field for 27 percent in the first half. The four points that Schechinger scored 3 minutes into the game was the most by a Northwest player.

The Bearcat executed much better on offense to start the second half, scoring 10 points in the first 5 minutes. Junior Taylor Shull had five points and Schaaf drained her second three-pointer of the game.

Unfortunately, Northwest was unable to close ground. The Bearcats trailed 46-25 with 14 minutes left.

The good news for the Bearcats was all 11 players scored at least two points. The bad news was the leading scorer only had six points, which came on the two three-pointers Schaaf made.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A year ago, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team went into the Christmas break with a victory. When it returned to action 14 days later, the Bearcats lost at home to Central Oklahoma.

Perhaps, a tune-up after Christmas break before heading into the meat of conference schedule would have helped Northwest last season.

Time will tell if a different approach worked.

The Bearcats had their tune-up in the final few hours of 2014 when they took on Avila early Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest showed rust on offense in the opening minutes, but found its rhythm midway through the first half, building a 14-point lead.

Despite a spirited effort from Avila, the Bearcats easily won 85-67. It was the perfect vehicle to carry Northwest, 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA, into the new year and a two-game Oklahoma road trip that begins Saturday at Central Oklahoma.

“I think this game will help us,” said junior Conner Cooker, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “They are good, tough team. They press the whole game. They are relentless. This was a good game for us.”

Northwest opened with a three-pointer from Zach Pitts. Sophomore Anthony Woods followed with a drive into the paint for a bucket for a 5-0 lead.

The Bearcats, though, started missing a few open three-pointers even though their lead slowly grew to 11-2.

A couple minutes later, Northwest found its stroke. On three straight offensive possessions, teammates found Crooker in the corner and he drilled three straight three-pointers, pushing Northwest’s lead to 20-7.

“They help me a lot,” Crooker said of his teammates. “They draw the double. I’m sitting there. They know where to find me. Matt Wallace is especially good at it. I think he got me the assist on all of them.”

Once Crooker gained Avila’s respect for his outside jumper, he decided to drive inside the arc. He made a couple of one-handed shots, driving to the basket.

It took sophomore Zach Schneider about 15 minutes to find the range, but when he did, it was impressive. He nailed a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. He made the free throw. His four-point play gave Northwest a 35-21 lead.

Avila did not wilt, which was good for the Bearcats. The Eagles fought back and closed to 38-30.

Avila’s mini run forced Northwest to make a play before the halftime buzzer sounded. The Bearcats worked the ball around. Senior Matt Wallace received the ball at the top of the key with 2 seconds left and hit a three-pointer, sending Northwest into halftime with a 41-30 lead.

Northwest wound up shooting 58 percent from the field in the first half and made nearly half its three-pointers, going seven for 15 from behind the arc.

Interestingly, the first basket in the second half was identical to the one that opened the game. Pitts made a three-pointer, starting another nice run for Northwest. The Bearcats lead grew to 61-41 7 minutes into the second half.

“It was good practice for us to work on what we need to work on, breaking the press and being able to handle the pressure,” Crooker said.

The competition gets a lot tougher the rest of the way. The Bearcats will face a Central Oklahoma team Saturday afternoon that is 11-2 overall and 4-0 and in first place in the MIAA. On Monday, Northwest plays at Northeastern Oklahoma, which is struggling a little at 3-8 and 1-3.

“I think we are ready,” Crooker said. “We have a pretty good record so far. We are going to build on that. We are going to fine tune everything and try to get better and execute a little better.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —