Meyer’s big second half boosts Bearcats to win
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University’s Tanya Meyer goes up for a shot in the post against Bellevue University on Wednesday. She scored 23 points in the second half.
It might not have been pretty for a full 40 minutes, but a win is a win.
The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team earned a 69-55 victory over Bellevue University on Wednesday night in its home opener. The Bearcats built a 35-22 lead at the break and then junior Tanya Meyer took the third quarter over and helped ensure the Bruins couldn’t climb back in.
After scoring two points in the first half, she poured in 21 second half points, the majority of those coming in the third frame, to finish with a team-high 23. Benson was second on the team with 16 points and Taryne Shull had 10.
Northwest head coach Buck Scheel said he could see a shift in Meyer’s demeanor in the second half.
“She finally got comfortable and listened a little bit at halftime,” he said. “That’s the most consistent zone we’ve seen so far this year and zone is something you don’t really see a lot within our league. I thought the girls did a much better job of looking for the things that we talked about at halftime. They let things happen instead of trying to force things to happen. That’s what got us in trouble in the first half.”
Bellevue coach Dave Denly, who is coaching in the university’s inaugural women’s basketball season, said his team had defensive breakdowns in the second half and Meyer was able to take advantage.
He said she simply got on a roll.
“We lost her a couple times and it gave her confidence,” he said. “When a kid like her hits a couple shots and is able to get going … we lost a little focus defensively and some other kids started to hit shots and that spread the floor out a little bit. It’s just a matter of we’re a new group and a young group and we have to get better at the mental discipline.”
One of the main adjustments Northwest made in the second half came down to floor balance.
Meyer said the Bearcats were overusing one side of the floor too much in the first half.
“We needed to move the ball more,” she said. “Coach (Buck Scheel) said there were four or five possessions in the first half that the ball was all on one side of the court. That was one thing that we emphasized a lot. We needed to get the ball shifting.”
That was another adjustment that worked as the Bearcats shot 9-of-21 (43%) from the three point line and finished shooting 50 percent from the field.
Six different players hit at least one 3-pointer.
“Anything over 40 percent when you’re putting up 3’s is good,” Scheel said. “To have that consistency shooting carry over from this past weekend is great. That’s one thing we’re going to have to maintain going into our game this weekend and down the road.”
Bellevue stuck with Northwest for the first quarter, staying within six at 17-11. Shull hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter before the Bruins cut the lead to 22-16, and Shull promptly buried another three to stretch the lead back out to nine at 25-16 with 6:15 to go in the second.
Northwest got the first two baskets of the third quarter when Benson scored on a layup and then sunk a 3-pointer to make the score 40-22 early in the second half.
The rest of the quarter belonged to Meyer, and the Bearcats never looked back. Bellevue did win the fourth quarter 21-14, but it wasn’t enough.
Shull and Meyer each had six rebounds while Benson and Jasmin Howe had six. Macy Williams and Benson had six and five assists respectively while Howe had four.
The Bearcats held the Bruins to 21 percent from behind the arc and won the battle on the boards 38-24.
Scheel said it was good to get the win in their home opener, but there are things his team needs to work on going forward.
He said it will need to improve quickly as the Bearcats take on Rockhurst on Saturday at 3 p.m. back at Bearcat Arena.
“With Rockhurst, they are a chaotic type offensive team,” he said. “They have structure at times, then there’s times where they run a lot of different motion stuff. We need to make sure we have good communication on defense. That’s one thing tonight where we struggled defensively. There were times where people weren’t talking about who they were guarding, whether it was subbing or in transition. That cost us a few baskets tonight. Against a good team, that’s going to catch up to us.”
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (3-0): POINTS (FG Made-Att, FT made-att, 3PT Made-Att.)- Meyer 23 (9-13, 4-5, 1-2); Benson 16 (6-10, 2-3, 2-4); Shull 10 (2-5, 4-4, 2-5); Howe 9 (4-8, 0-0, 1-5); McAndrews 6 (2-2, 0-0, 2-2); Williams 3 (1-2, 0-0,1-2); Wilhemi 2 (1-5, 0-0); Schaaf 0(0-3, 0-0, 0-1). TOTAL: 69 25-50 (50%) 10-12 (83.3%) 9-21 (42.9%).
BELLEVUE (4-5): POINTS (FG Made-Att, FT Made-Att) Curtis 21 (8-16, 4-6, 1-2); Walker 9 (4-8,0-0, 1-1); Voyles 9 (4-5, 0-0, 1-2); Collins 5(2-6, 1-2, 0-1); Roberts 3 (1-8, 0-0, 1-6); McCartney 2 (0-5, 2-2, 0-4); Hubbs 2 (1-3, 0-0); Tucker 2 (0-2, 2-2, 0-2); Petzoldt 2 (1-2, 0-1), Bader 0 (0-2,0-0, 0-1). TOTAL: 55 21-57 (36.8%) 9-12 (75%) 4-19 (21.1%).
REBOUNDS: NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE- 38 (Meyer 7, Shull 7, Benson 6, Howe 6, Wilhelmi 3, Schaaf 3, TEAM 3, Williams 2, Detlinger 1); BELLEVUE-24 (Curtis 7, Hubbs 3, Roberts 2, Voyles 2, Walker 2, Bader 2, TEAM 2, McCartney 1, Tucker 1, Collins 1, Petzoldt 1).
BLOCKS: NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE- 1 (Wilhelmi); BELLEVUE-1 (Hubbs).
STEALS: NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE- 6 (Shull 2, Williams 2, Howe 1, Meyer 1); BELLEVUE- 8 (Voyles 3, Walker 2, Roberts 1, McCartney 1, Tucker 1).
TURNOVERS: NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE- 10; BELLEVUE-17.
FOULS (FOUL OUT): NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE- 13 (none); BELLEVUE- 14 (none).
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University’s Macy Williams looks for an open teammate during the Bearcats’ 69-55 win over Bellevue on Wednesday. Williams had six assists on the night.
By DAVID MERRILL Sports reporter
Northwest Missouri State University’s Jasmin Howe drives the baseline during the Bearcats’ 69-55 victory over Bellevue on Wednesday. Howe finished with six rebounds and four assists.
