MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State senior Ariel Easton matched her career-high 30 points against Lindenwood with 18 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the second half Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.
Easton didn’t break her scoring record until 3:50 remained. Her scoring drought was good for the Bearcats on two fronts.
It showed Easton played team basketball and didn’t force up shots when Lindenwood made a conscious effort to shut her down.
The other positive point was the rest of the Bearcats stepped up and made baskets. It was an overall team effort that led Northwest to an 81-72 comeback victory.
“Our kids responded in the second half,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “I challenged them at halftime. I told them we needed some other people to step up.
“Obviously, Ariel was having a career night, but we knew in the second half they would try to make some adjustments. More importantly, Ariel played with poise in the second half. She didn’t try to do too much and allowed her teammates to get involved.”
After three straight nail biters in which the final outcome was twice decided by one point and the other by two points, the nine-point win was far more comfortable.
“It felt great,” said Easton, who finished with a career-high 34 points. “With four minutes left, I kind of thought about that. We need to play defense and play composed like we did tonight.
“We are learning from our mistakes. Last week we let one get away because of that.”
Statistically, the Bearcats played at a very high level in the second half. They shot a blistering 57 percent from the field and committed only six turnovers. They also caused Lindenwood to shoot 29 percent from the field.
The Bearcats have now won three of their last four games. They continue to show growth as they move out of the basement of the MIAA and start their climb up the standings.
“I think our kids pressed in the first half,” Smith said. “They knew what was at stake as far as two teams battling to move up in the rankings.”
When Easton scored her 30th point, Northwest trailed just 41-40. But one player wasn’t going to beat Lindenwood. Although the Bearcats stayed close in the first half because of Easton, they needed a couple of other players to find their shot.
It finally happened when the Bearcats were down 47-43. A 13-0 run by Northwest started with a mid-range jumper from Taylor Shull, who struggled with her shot against Lindenwood.
Northwest tied the game at 47-47 on a bucket by freshman Samantha Hurst and took the lead for good on a basket by freshman Bailey Smith.
Freshman Tanya Meyer made back-to-back buckets and junior Tember Schechinger drilled a three-pointer, giving Northwest a 56-47 lead.
“It gave me confidence in them,” said Schechinger of the freshmen. “It helps me trust them a lot more. It helps everybody trust them more.
“When your offensive game is going that means your defensive game will probably step up a little. It just helps that you can trust your teammates. It is great to see them come off the bench and be ready. They were ready to play tonight.”
The trey by Schechinger triggered a hot streak from her. She made a couple more long three-pointers. Her third of the game gave the Bearcats a 68-58 lead with 5:20 left. She finished with 15 points.
“It does a lot for us,” Easton said of Schechinger’s three-pointers.
Easton finally broke her career-high with a basket with 3:50 left, helping Northwest maintain a double-digit lead at 72-62.
The first half was the Ariel Easton show.
If only someone else other than Easton could have scored in the first half, Northwest would have gone into halftime with a lead instead of a 39-35 deficit.
Easton was hitting shots all over the court. She scored 27 points in the first half. The only other player to notch more than two points was forward Shelby Mustain, who had four.
Foul trouble hurt Mustain. She saw just three minutes of action.
Despite the scoring troubles for the rest of the Bearcats, the game remained close and would have been closer if not for a ridiculous three-pointer by Kassidy Gengenbacher late in the first half that banked high off the backboard, which gave the Lions the four-point advantage.
— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —
