Northwest Missouri State got its second win of the season, a 102-64 rout of Southwestern (KS) to open up the Winstead-Reeves Classic Friday night. The Moundbuilders had drawn Coach Gene Steinmeyer's attention as they had jumped out to a 4-0 start, beat a ranked NAIA team on the road, and gave #9 MIAA powerhouse Washburn all they could handle for a while before falling to the Ichabods 96-60. Winning has a way of being contagious, but so does losing -- the Moundbuilders, one of the quickest teams that Northwest has played this year, proceeded to drop their next game against Rogers State by 20 and only got 55 points in the effort. Then, after a fast start, Southwestern faded as the game wore on against Northwest and dropped their third straight game. The streaky Moundbuilders then lost to Briar Cliff for their 4th straight before winning again.
Gabby Curtis (20 points, 6 assists) opened the scoring for Northwest with a drive and 10-foot floater, but Brett Bates, a guard who will shoot from anywhere for Southwestern, countered with a 30-foot 3-pointer. Shelly Martin (10 points) found Abby Henry (13 points) at the top of the key and then Melissa Nyquist fed Candace Boeh inside to put Northwest up 6-3 at the 17:42 mark. But then Southwestern began playing their brand of racehorse basketball as they ran up and down the court, pressing and getting easy looks at the bucket as they pushed out to a 9-6 lead.
But then 6'5" Kyra Roehrig (20 points, 4 blocked shots) came off the bench for Northwest and turned out to be a game-changer for the Bearcats. The Moundbuilders didn't have anyone who could match up with her and Northwest was able to lob the ball at will to her as she scored 20 points in just 19 minutes of work. Shelly Martin, Melissa Nyquist, and Ashley Thayer all found her open during a 10-0 run and Roehrig showed that she could find the open person when doubled, finding Shelly Martin open for a 3-pointer as Northwest went from down three to up seven at 16-9.
Roehrig was a lot more confident with the ball in her second game than she was in the first game and her teammates sensed it and continued to lob the ball in to her. Shelly Martin threw one in to her and then Ashley Thayer threw another pass to her for layups as Northwest's lead grew to 20-11. Then Gabby Curtis scored from the left baseline and then Emily Hauder (10 points) cleaned up on a miss to put Northwest up 24-13. Southwestern came back to within 26-19, but then Roehrig converted a pair of putbacks and Shelly Martin answered a Southwestern bucket with a 3-pointer off a feed from Monai Douglass to start another run for Northwest. Douglass then found Gabby Curtis open from the left side and then Curtis pushed the ball up the floor and found Shelly Martin open at the top of the key to make it 38-21 with 4:34 left. Shelly Martin found Tara Roach (10 points, 8 rebounds) open from the left side and then Monai Douglass' 25-footer gave Northwest its largest lead so far at 49-28 before Southwestern closed to within 52-36 at the break behind a Bates 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Given the style of ball Southwestern was playing, even a 16-point lead was not safe and the Moundbuilders started off strongly, closing to within 56-41 at the 18:04 mark behind a free throw from Tylar Hartfield. But then Abby Henry, who had been held in check, got untracked as she scored off a Shelly Martin steal to start an 11-0 run. Coach Steinmeyer had been telling Henry to go to the basket more all tournament and she did during that stretch as she drove and kicked out to Curtis for a 3-pointer. Then, Kyra Roehrig got a tip and Gabby Curtis picked up the errant carom and fed Henry for the layup; Henry then got a drive and scored two free throws. Henry then found Emily Hauder all alone in the short corner to cap the run and make it 67-41 at the 15:55 mark.
Southwestern came back to within 69-45 with 14:15 left, but then Ashley Thayer took a charge, which sparked another run. Gabby Curtis then found Emily Hauder inside and then Curtis got rewarded as Hauder found Curtis open on the next play for a 3-pointer to make it 74-45. Southwestern got a free throw but then Henry hit a pair of free throws and then pushed it ahead to Shelly Martin on the next play to make it 78-46. Tara Roach, who has really improved her jump shot from last year, hit a heavily-guarded 10-footer to cap the 14-1 run at the 11:35 mark.
Zefiryn Bryan and Kaitlin Tennysonn both hit free throws as Southwestern got back to within 83-50, but then Ashley Thayer hit a pair of free throws, Monai Douglass then jumped a pass and got a steal and score, Douglass then lobbed it into Roehrig who turned it into a free throw, and then Tara Roach capped the run with another free throw after Douglass had taken a charge on defense.
The Moundbuilders came back to within 91-58 as they kept getting on the line, but then Candace Boeh followed her own miss with a 3-point play, Ashley Thayer hit a free throw, and then Boeh got another putback to make it 97-58. Thayer's free throw with 2:42 left put Northwest over the century mark.
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