Nebraska-Kearney had just made a run to tie the game against Northwest Missouri State's women at 63 with under six minutes left. But then one of their players got a steal, got trapped against the sideline, and took a timeout that Kearney didn't have. Shelly Martin knocked down the free throws for Northwest and then Abby Henry had a drive and floater on the ensuing possession for Northwest to put them up to stay. That was part of a game-deciding 9-0 run that put the game out of reach. UNK got the deficit down to two, but could not get the critical stop that would have given them the chance to tie or take the lead and Northwest came away with an 81-75 win Monday night.
Northwest came in not knowing what to expect. The Bearcats are without their standout player Gentry Dietz for the first half of the year. Coach Gene Steinmeyer talked on the Northwest website about wanting to see more speed and more pressure on the ball from his guards. He got both Monday night as his charges forced 29 turnovers while surrendering the ball only 17 times themselves. Northwest features a skyscraper post player in 6'5" Kyla Roehrig; bringing her in with an already strong post game means that their 3-point shooters will be a lot more open this year. And Coach Steinmeyer got the speed he was looking for from former Maryville standout Meridee Scott (7 assists), a skinny freshman, who was the fastest player out on the court Monday night. She was constantly pushing the ball up the floor against Kearney and finding the open person. And Abby Henry, whom Coach Steinmeyer says is one of the best players he's ever coached, held up her end with a 26-point effort. The Bearcats come in off a 14-15 year with everyone back; they will need time to gell, but figure to do a lot of damage in the MIAA come January and February when Dietz returns. Dietz has a 37-point 16-board effort to her credit last year.
But Kearney came into the game with plenty to prove. Having beat a good Missouri S&T (formerly Missouri-Rolla) team to open, they figured to present plenty of problems with Northwest since they had already gotten a game under their belt. Their main post player, Megan Becker, ate Northwest alive on defense; she was a 6 foot mobile athletic post and she scored at will in the early going, getting 10 of UNK's first 12 points. Northwest countered with 3-pointers from Ashley Thayer and Gabby Curtis along with a balanced attack that left them up 13-12 at the 12:57 mark. Meridee Scott used her speed to push it up the floor and got it to Emily Hauder on the right side; Shelly Martin kicked it out to Gabby Curtis for a 3-pointer to make it 18-12. Kearney fought right back as Melissa Voichahoske's free throw, a shot from the left wing and a steal from Debi Johnson that she converted to a 3-point play, and a driving layup from Becker made it 20-18.
Abby Henry's 3-pointer from the top of the key after she had dribbled around a ball screen several times to get open sparked another Northwest run. A UNK free throw tied it at 21, but Meridee Scott came off the bench and slipped behind the defense in transition; Monai Douglass threw her the long pass and Scott found Tara Roach underneath for a layup. Scott then got a steal and found Gabby Curtis open for a layup and then Abby Henry's driving layup made it 27-21.
UNK then called a timeout and switched to a 1-2-2 zone which seemed to slow Northwest down and they began missing shots as the Lopers climbed back into the game. They began to beat Northwest off the cut and a couple of defensive breakdowns didn't help as Kearney used an 11-0 run to take their largest lead at 32-27 with 1:40 left. But then Northwest took timeout and Tara Roach worked a perfect high-low with Roehrig and then Abby Henry hit a 3-pointer in transition following a miss that tied it up. Nicole Arp's 3-pointer put UNK back up three before Henry's drive cut the gap to one at 35-34 at the half.
The lead changed hands several times at the start of the second half. Shelly Martin hit a 3-pointer from the right side to put Northwest back in front, but Kearney used a drive from Vanessa Leeper and then Becker began to get open again as her putback put UNK up 39-37. Candace Boeh converted an offensive board into a putback and then Martin's second 3-pointer in two minutes made it 42-39. UNK went back in front 46-44 as Leeper's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 14:17 put them up, but Northwest responded as Roehrig got a pair of putbacks and then Northwest got consecutive steals off the press as Meridee Scott connected from the left side off of one steal and Abby Henry scored a 3-pointer off another steal before UNK burned a timeout to stop the run.
Ashley Thayer's 3-pointer with 11:15 gave Northwest its largest lead at 56-48 at that point; the teams traded buckets before Leeper's second 3-pointer of the half sparked a run. Lea Ann Jameson was fouled on a 3-pointer following a steal from Megan Becker and then a pair of free throws from Kim Rickels tied it up at 63. Northwest missed a pair of close shots during that stretch. The critical play happened next as Northwest had the ball in frontcourt and threw the ball away as Vanessa Leeper stole a pass. But she was right next to the sideline and Tara Roach and Kyla Roehrig set a perfect trap on Leeper, who panicked and called a timeout that Kearney didn't have at the 5:43 mark.
Instead of Kearney with the ball and a chance to take the lead, Northwest got the ball as Shelly Martin hit both free throws and then Abby Henry got a drive and floater in the lane on the ensuing possession as Northwest was up 67-63. Gabby Curtis then hit from the left wing and then Abby Henry hit a 3-pointer in transition to make it 72-63 with 4:37 left, which turned out to be too big for UNK to overcome.
Kearney chipped away, cutting the lead to 72-68 with 3:01 left, but then Abby Henry's driving layup with 1:42 left broke the run. Leeper's driving layup with 43 seconds left cut it to 75-73, but then Abby Henry's driving layup made it 77-73 and then UNK tried for a long hail mary pass that wasn't there and threw it away with 23.1 seconds left and Gabby Curtis hit two free throws with 21.2 seconds left. Becker's layup made it 79-75 with 11.5 seconds left, but Henry's free throws made it 81-75 and Kearney threw away another hail mary pass to seal their fate.
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