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 —