Bearcats suffer second half collapse against UCM
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University’s Arbrie Benson looks for room off of a screen from Taryne Shull during the Bearcats’ game against UCM on Sunday. The Jennies won 61-55.
The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team couldn’t make the most of a 31-19 halftime lead as it lost to Central Missouri 61-55 on Sunday.
The Bearcats held the Jennies to 7-of-29 shooting, including 1-of-13 from three in the first half.
Tanya Meyer registered a double-double in the first two quarters with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
She finished with 22 points while Jasmin Howe contributed 15.
Northwest head coach Buck Scheel said the team struggled with the Jennies’ defense in the second half.
“We have press-breakers and a lot of times, when they get thrown at you, you kind of panic a little bit and we can’t do that,” he said. “We know what we have to do and when those situations come about, you just have to do it because, I can’t always burn a timeout to try and straighten them out. We can’t run it correct once or twice and then take two or three times off.”
UCM turned up the pressure at the start of the second half, meeting the Bearcats at full court and it helped them pull within four at 35-31 with 4:45 left in the third, which capped an 11-4 run.
Northwest turned the corner and sprinted back out to a 43-33 lead with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Mules cut the Bearcat lead to six at 43-37 to end the third quarter before Meyer scored the first basket of the fourth, but UCM battled back yet again to cut the lead to 45-42 with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer from UCM’s Paige Redmond tied the game at 45-45 with 5:10 remaining. The two teams battled to a 50-50 tie with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter.
Howe said the team needed to stay tough down the stretch.
“We just needed to keep battling,” she said. “We let a couple things slip, especially with the press. I put myself out of position and I need to get better at that because, at that point, it’s anyone’s game.”
The Jennies forced more turnovers out of the break and it helped them go on a 9-2 run and take a 59-52 lead with 31.9 remaining.
Meyer hit a 3-pointer out of a Bearcat timeout to make it 59-55, but the Jennies salted the rest of the game away at the free-throw line.
Central Missouri head coach Dave Slifer said he wanted his team to keep attacking down the stretch.
“We just wanted to keep attacking the rim and make sure we kept pressing,” he said. “As long as we kept pressing, we knew they were going to have trouble getting ball over half-court.”
Paige Redmond led the Jennies with a game-high 20 points while Morgan Fleming had 14.
Northwest finished the game with 23 turnovers to just seven for UCM. The Jennies won the fourth quarter 24-12 and the second half 42-24.
Meyer said it is going to take time for the young Bearcats to learn to pull these games out down the stretch.
“We need to play physically tough with the ball and I think that was one of the major reasons for the outcome,” she said. “We’ll get there. Coach (Scheel) has already said that Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practices are going to be tough and I think that will help us going into next week.”
Northwest travels to Northeastern state for a 1:30 p.m. contest on Dec. 17.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (5-5, 0-3 MIAA) SCORING (FG made-att., 3 PT made-att., FT made-att)- Meyer 22 (7-14, 2-6, 6-6); Howe 15 (6-16, 1-7, 2-4); McAndrews 6 (2-2, 2-2, 0-0); Williams 6 (2-3, 1-2, 1-2); Wilhelmi 4 (0-1, 0-0, 4-4); Benson 2 (1-4, 0-1, 0-1). TOTALS: 55 18-43 (41.9%); 6-20 (30%); 13-19 (68.4%).
CENTRAL MISSOURI (8-1, 3-0) (FG made-att., 3 PT made-att., FT made-att)- Redmond 20 (6-12, 2-4, 6-9); Fleming 14 (4-13, 1-4, 5-9); Skaggs 9 (4-7, 1-3, 0-2); Duffy 7 (3-10, 0-3, 1-1); Lee 5 (1-3, 0-0, 3-6); Williams 4 (0-1, 0-1, 4-4); Skaggs 2 (1-1, 0-0, 0-0). TOTALS: 61 19-55 (34.5%); 4-21 (19%); 19-31 (61.3%).
REBOUNDS: NWMSU 40 (Meyer 17, Shull 6, Howe 6); UCM 33 (Duffy 7, Skaggs 5)
STEALS: NWMSU 1 (Howe); UCM 14 (Duffy 4, Fleming 3)
BLOCKS: NWMSU 0; UCM 2 (S. Skaggs, M Skaggs)
ASSISTS: NWMSU 8 (Howe 2, Benson 2); UCM 8 (Redmond 3, Fleming 2)
TURNOVERS: NWMSU 23, UCM 7
FOULS (FOUL OUT): NWMSU 23 (Williams); UCM 19 (none)
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University’s Tanya Meyer gets a shot in the paint during the Bearcats’ game against Central Missouri on Sunday. She had 22 points and 17 rebounds, but the Bearcats lost 61-55.
By DAVID MERRILL/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University’s Taryne Shull drives the lane between two Central Missouri defenders on Sunday. The Bearcats took a 61-55 loss.
