By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – For nearly the entire game, the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team prevented Lindenwood junior Kassidy Gengenbacher from easy baskets Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.

Because of that success and good offense, Northwest held double-digit leads at the end of each of the first three quarters. But it looked like Gengenbacher finally had an answer to the Northwest puzzle.

With 2 minutes remaining in the game, Gengenbacher stepped five feet beyond the three-point line and nailed a trey that gave Lindenwood its first lead of the game.

But Northwest simply refused to lose a heartbreaker in its Pink Zone game in which funds raised will go to help an individual in Maryville who is battling cancer. Thirty seconds after the three-pointer, sophomore Tanya Meyer calmly made two free throws.

Those free throws started a positive trend for the Bearcats. Junior Jasmin Howe followed with two free throws with 40 seconds left that gave Northwest a three-point lead.

Meyer wound up making six straight free throws in the final 90 seconds to help Northwest win 66-60, in what turned out to be a wild and thrilling second half.

“A lot of people would say there was a lot of pressure on me, but my teammates have trust in me and they know I can knock them down,” said Meyer, who finished with 14 points. “When the crowd gets into it, it makes it that much better of a feeling when you hit those shots.”

Afterwards, the Bearcats were all smiles. They battled through game adversity the way people diagnosed with cancer fight to beat that horrible disease.

“To have all the fans out here and giving them a good game like this, it feels great,” said senior Tember Schechinger of the Pink Zone game. “Supporting everybody and they come out and support us, it is a win-win for everybody.”

The Bearcats have now won two straight. All 10 players who saw action in the game contributed in some manner in the victory.

Howe, who finished with 19 points, was nearly perfect shooting the basketball. Schechinger scored 17 points in the third quarter when Northwest needed an offensive spark.

“It felt like I was actually playing,” said Schechinger, who finished with 19 points. “In the first half, I couldn’t buy a basket. My team kept pushing me. They had confidence in me.”

But what the box score won’t show was the stellar defense Taylor Shull played on Gengenbacher, one of the top scorers in the conference.

Shull only scored three points in the game, but without her defense on Gengenbacher, who knows what might have happened.

“She made me work,” Shull said. “It was not easy. To see that flicker of frustration gave me motivation to not take the next one off and keep pushing at her and not let her get what she wants.”

When the two teams met on Dec. 20 at Lindenwood, Gengenbacher made 8-of-13 shots and scored 24 points in the Lions’ 74-70 victory. And the last time the two teams played in the 2014-15 season, Gengenbacher scored 24 in a 73-67 win.

Shull made sure Gengenbacher never found a consistent offensive rhythm and that was a good thing because the Lions made a couple runs in the second half that significantly cut into double digit leads held by Northwest.

“She (Shull) was locked in today just like she was on Thursday,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “She understood how we wanted to guard certain situations and she did a heck of a job all day. She made her work. She finished with 14, but we really made her work for those 14.”

The Bearcats started the third quarter with a 28-13 lead and then saw Lindenwood score 10 straight, closing to 28-23. Schechinger changed the momentum with two straight baskets. Northwest was back in control as its lead expanded to 47-32 when Howe made a three-pointer.

Northwest closed out the third quarter with a 51-39 lead. Once again, the Lions made it interesting. They scored the first 10 points to start the fourth quarter, closing to 51-49.

Schechinger came to the rescue again. Two free throws by her with 6 minutes left pushed Northwest’s lead to 53-49. Sophomore Bailey Smith followed with a smooth, driving layup, giving Northwest a six point lead.

Lindenwood fought back again and closed to 55-54 with 4 minutes left. Two minutes later, Gengenbacher finally hit a three-pointer that gave Lindenwood its only lead.

Northwest had the answer and won its second-straight MIAA game for the first time this season.

“To get these two at home before we go on a road trip was huge,” Scheel said. “They weathered the storm and powered through possession by possession. They locked in when they had to and stuck together and finished the game strong.”

The first quarter started with Northwest excelling in every phase. The defense held Lindenwood scoreless the first 4 minutes. The offense executed on an equally high level.

Meyer scored six of the first 12 points for the Bearcats, who opened the game with a 12-0 lead. Howe also hit a couple of buckets for Northwest.

Northwest finished the first quarter ahead 19-6. The Bearcats didn’t have as much success offensively in the second quarter, but the still played stellar defense. Junior Carlie Wilhelmi came off the bench and had a block, as did Shelby Mustain, who became the third Bearcat all-time to reach 100 career blocks.

Despite a few struggles on offense, Northwest still won the quarter, outscoring Lindenwood 9-7 and taking a 28-13 lead into halftime.

Lindenwood made only four field goals in the first half and shot a woeful 13.8 percent from the field (4-for-29).

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – In Northwest Missouri State’s impressive 86-61 victory over Lincoln University Thursday evening, there were so many jaw-dropping moments that it was impossible to pick one.

Some of the 1,005 fans who left Bearcat Arena might talk about the numerous nifty drives by sophomore Justin Pitts that led to layups. He finished with 18 points.

Others could speak about the beautiful team basketball by Northwest that led to open shots. The Bearcats had 14 assists compared to just five for Lincoln.

“I think it pays off from practice because in practice we try so hard to be perfect,” Pitts said. “It carries over to the game and today it showed.”

But since the basketball world currently revolves around Stephen Curry, the sharp shooting guard of the Golden State Warriors, the highlight moment for Northwest belonged to junior Zach Schneider.

Even though Northwest was well on its way to its sixth straight victory, what Schneider did with 13 minutes left brought a loud roar from the crowd and a timeout from Lincoln.

Leading 51-36, Schneider hit a long three-pointer. The Bearcats got a stop, raced down court and senior Conner Crooker delivered a perfect pass to Schneider for a three-pointer. Boom, boom, the long-range bombing by Schneider gave Northwest a commanding 57-36 lead.

“It is a pretty good feeling,” said Schneider, who went six for eight on three-pointers and finished with 18 points. “I was letting it fly and not even thinking about it. That is when I am at my best.

“It is nice to force the other team to call timeout. That is when the crowd gets into it.”

From that moment on, it was obvious Northwest was going to avenge its 79-74 loss at Lincoln on Dec. 18.

“Pretty much everything was different, our defense, our offense, and we played with more energy,” Schneider said. “We hit shots tonight. It was a completely different game. We feel we are a lot better team now.”

With the victory, the Bearcats maintain their firm grip on first place in the MIAA. They improved to 16-5 overall and 13-3 in conference. Northwest returns to action 3:30 p.m. Saturday at home against second-place Lindenwood.

From the outset, the Bearcats made sure Lincoln knew it had no chance of winning. The closest Lincoln got to Northwest in the second half was 12 points and that didn’t last long.

Ahead 43-31, Crooker drilled a three-pointer to make it 46-31. Cooker, though, did his damage distributing the basketball. He had a career-high eight assists.

“He was good today,” Schneider said of Crooker’s assists. “Teams have to bring two players to him sometimes and he is good at finding us.”

After Crooker’s trey, Schneider followed with a three-pointer, pushing Northwest’s lead to 49-31. The game was basically over, but there was still the Schneider back-to-back trey moment.

In the first half, Northwest played so well at the start that freshman forward Dray Starzl and sophomore guard Xavier Kurth saw significant minutes. Starzl responded by making both his field goal attempts and did his part to help the Bearcats go into halftime ahead 36-20.

“It is nice to come in and get more minutes,” Starzl said. “Coaches are trusting me. It is good to give Zach and Brett Dougherty and D’Vante Mosby a little breather. Keeping them fresh is a big thing.

“These games are crucial for me to grow as a player. If I am needed because we are in foul trouble, I will be ready to go. I feel like I am.”

Kurth, who has missed much of the season due to an injury, showed some rust. This was only the sixth game he has played in this season. Part of the reason Kurth saw 11 minutes of action in the first half was because of an injury to junior Anthony Woods, who was in street clothes for the game.

The Bearcats started the game on fire. Dougherty scored the first basket of the game. Crooker followed with a three-pointer. Before the Tigers knew what hit them, they were looking at a 13-1 deficit that bloomed to 19-3.

Northwest made sure Lincoln never made a dent in the lead the rest of the first half. The Bearcats shot 42 percent from the field and held Lincoln to five of 23 shooting from the field for a dismal 21.7 shooting percentage.

— Northwest Athletics —

By David Boyce, Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team saw its 20-point lead in the third quarter against Lincoln quickly slip to 10 when the quarter ended Thursday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Fresh in the Bearcats’ memory bank was the last game when a 15-point lead at Pittsburg State in the third quarter turned into a loss.

Northwest was determined to prevent that from happening again. The Bearcats understand they need to win the majority of their remaining games to grab one of the final spots in the MIAA Tournament.

Despite some hot shooting by Lincoln in the final 4 minutes of the game, Northwest executed its offense to perfection, leading to points in the paint from senior Tember Schechinger and junior Shelby Mustain that allowed the Bearcats to maintain at least a six-point lead.

“We knew we couldn’t let go,” said Schechinger, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. “We kept our composure the whole game and that really helped us.”

Four free throws by freshman Macy Williams in the final minute and then a steal by Mustain with less than 30 seconds left sealed a 73-63 victory for Northwest.

“We wanted it,” Schechinger said. “We are hungry for any win we can get. I feel we let Pitt State beat us. We had that game. We need to carry this win to tomorrow’s practice and into Saturday’s game.”

In the end, Northwest led from start to finish, playing one of its most complete games of the season.

The Bearcats wasted little time building their lead to 20 on a basket by Schechinger early in the third quarter that made it 44-24. Northwest held a 49-29 lead when Lincoln made its push.

The Tigers scored the final 10 points in the third quarter, but Northwest opened the fourth quarter with two free throws by sophomore Tanya Meyer, who finished with 14 points.

Lincoln kept battling and closed to 63-57 and that’s when Schechinger made a basket. The Tigers came right back with a basket.

“It was frustrating,” Schechinger said. “We score a layup and then they would score a layup. It makes you mad at yourself. You feel you have to go and make up on the other end.”

Northwest did exactly that. The Bearcats always had an answer. Mustain scored, making it 67-59. It became obvious at that juncture that Northwest wasn’t going to lose the game.

“Once we got into the half court, I knew with what we were running and how they were guarding us, we would be able to get those looks,” said Northwest interim head coach Buck Scheel. “That is what got us going in the first half. In the first half, we finished with 22 points in the paint. I knew going into this game we would have this advantage inside.”

It was a complete team effort. Like Schechinger, Mustain had a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. It was the first time since Jan. 19, 2013 that multiple Northwest players had double-doubles in the same game.

In the first half, Northwest scored the first seven points in the game, maintained its solid play through both quarters and went into halftime ahead 35-20.

The Bearcats excelled on both ends of the court, limiting Lincoln to seven field goals. Offensively, Northwest went 14-for-31 for 45 percent.

“We played really hard and I think that helped us on offense,” said junior Jasmin Howe, who finished with 13 points. “We got good stops against a good team and that gave us confidence going to offense.”

Keying the offense was the play of Macy Williams and Taylor Shull, both of whom found Schechinger cutting to the basket for layups. Schechinger scored 10 points in the first half.

Meyer also benefitted from solid guard play, scoring seven points before the break. It was the consistent offense that allowed the Bearcats to hold the lead the entire first half.

Early on, Lincoln made three ridiculously long three-pointers that brought the Tigers to within two at 11-9. But those bombs never rattled the Bearcats. Northwest scored the next seven points and increased its lead to 18-9. Northwest finished the first quarter with a 22-13 lead.

The Bearcats kept attacking at the start of the second quarter. Leading 24-15, Northwest got a basket by Schechinger, followed by another field goal from Mustain and then a three-pointer by Bailey Smith that gave Northwest a 31-15 lead.

— Northwest Athletics —