Bearcats to host a pair this week
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Northwest’s Arbrie Benson sets up the offense in a 10-point loss to Missouri Southern on Jan. 5. The Bearcats play Emporia State and Washburn at home this week.
The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team has a pair of tough matchups at home this week, facing No. 12 Emporia State (17-3) on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. and turning around with Washburn (14-8, 7-6 MIAA) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Bearcats currently sit at 8-12 overall and 3-10 in MIAA competition.
Emporia State, 10-3 in conference play, sits a game behind MIAA tri-leaders Central Oklahoma, Pittsburg State, and Central Missouri. Emporia leads the conference in offense, posting 80.4 points per game. The Hornets are third in the conference in scoring defense at 57.9 points allowed.
“They’re a team who is very aggressive on both sides of the ball,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “If you allow them to come in and push you around, they’ll see that blood in the water and they’ll keep coming at you. If we establish ourselves early in the game, anything can happen.
“One thing we started preaching on yesterday is not hurting ourselves. The past couple of games, our lack of rebounding and turnovers has had a big effect on us, even in our win over Lincoln. Those are areas we can control, it’ll put us in position to be in the game.”
Scheel said that Emporia’s Tiana Moala is one of the most dominant defensive post presences in the MIAA. He said his team will have to space the floor and knock down jump shots to unlock its dangerous post game. Northwest forward Tanya Meyer leads the conference in per-game scoring at 20.9 points.
The Bearcats are currently 12th in conference standings. Only 12 teams qualify for the MIAA tournament, and with only six games remaining, every competition is pivotal for the Cats. Northeastern State is one game back from Northwest, and Lincoln a game and a half.
Senior guard Jasmin Howe said that she and her teammates remember the bitter taste of being excluded from the postseason last year.
“We’re a young team, but we need to focus on ourselves and those little things that really impact the game. Every game is crucial, we definitely want to get back to those postseason games. We’re taking it game by game.
“We have to make sure we’re coming in focused and understanding what’s expected of us. We’re at home and we made Emporia work for a win last year, so that helps us with the mental part of the game.”
