After a jittery start by both teams, Gentry Dietz hit a pair of free throws and all of a sudden, Shelly Martin caught fire for Northwest. Abby Henry found her open for a 3-pointer, Gabby Curtis found her for another, and then Gentry Dietz found her for a third as Northwest raced out to an 11-2 lead at the 15:37 mark. Pomona missed their first seven shots during that stretch and could never overcome sub-30% shooting in the game. Pomona was able to stay in the game thanks to forcing 19 turnovers for Northwest while doing a good job of taking care of the ball, giving it up only eight times. But they did not have an answer for Northwest, who has found many different ways to beat teams from rebounding (Pitt State, Western), shooting, the free throw line, or forcing more turnovers. Every one of their starters has been a sparkplug at some point during the year and this time it was Martin and her 3-pointers early on in the game.
Ponoma fought back, crashing the offensive boards hard and getting a 3-pointer by La'kenya Simon West and a layup and a 3-point play from Reyana Colson to cut it to 11-10 with 12:43 as Northwest got a pair of fouls, a missed layup, and two turnovers during that stretch. But Simon West missed a 3-pointer that would have put Pomona in front and Shelly Martin answered at the other end with one of her own to make it 14-10 to break a four minute scoring drought with 11:45 left.
Gentry Dietz found Kyla Roehrig inside as Kyla finally got going; a missed 3-pointer by Pomona was answered by a jumper by Gabby Curtis to make it 18-11. Sarah Semenero got a steal which led to a score by Charlene Popoff on the other end, but Abby Henry found Tara Roach got a jumper to counter for Northwest. Tara's friends brought a sign that said "Tara always scores" to a regular season game earlier this year and it would have been perfectly appropriate for Tuesday night as Roach would go three for three from the field for six points and four boards in 11 minutes of work off the bench. Roach got a defensive board on the other end following a missed layup from Pomona and that led to a quick score on the other end from Shelly Martin, whose shot made it 22-13. Abby Henry then got a steal and that led to a layup from Gabby Curtis; Curtis added two free throws to make it 26-13 with 6:29 left. To show the kind of night Pomona had, they missed five 3-pointers during that stretch; they would shoot four for 24 from downtown, which gave Northwest a lot of fast break opportunities on the other end.
The game stayed between 11 and 13 until Northwest got their inside game going as Gentry Dietz found Kyla Roehrig inside for a layup and then Abby Henry found Gentry in the paint. Then, Gentry got a block on the other end and then hustled down the floor for a layup on the offensive end to make it 35-17 with 3:03 left in the first half. Northwest led 39-22 at the break.
But it was only a matter of time before Pomona made their run and they did at the start of the second half as they finally got one of their 3-pointers to drop as Sarah Semenero connected. Charlene Popoff got a 3-point play, Megan Ford added a jumper, Sarah Semenero got a free throw, and Reyana Colson got a layup to make it 39-33 with 17:27 left in the game. Northwest turned the ball over three times during that stretch. Gabby Curtis then hit a pair of free throws, but Semenero hit another 3-pointer for Pomona to make it 41-36 with 16:43 left.
Northwest finally reestablished itself as Shelly Martin found Kyla Roehrig in the paint. Semenero finally cooled off and missed a 3-pointer and then Gentry Dietz converted a 3-point play on the other end to make it double digits again at 46-36 with 15:55 left.
Reyana Colson got a layup to cut it to eight and then Northwest turned it over again, but they got a stop on the other end. Abby Henry missed a layup for Northwest, but Tara Roach lived up to her "Tara always scores" nickname as her putback made it double digits again at 48-38 with 14:47 left. Shelly Martin and Gabby Curtis then hit back to back 3-pointers to make it 54-40 with 12:32 left.
Back came Pomona again as Semenero got hot again, getting a steal and a layup to make it 54-44 . Monai Douglass got back to back assists as she found both Gentry Dietz and Kyla Roehrig inside, but Semenero hit her third 3-pointer of the half to make it 58-49 with 9:36 left. But then Northwest got to the offensive glass when they needed to, getting three straight offensive boards before Gabby Curtis made a jumper to break the run.
Pomona kept hanging around, getting a layup from La'kenya Simon West and another from Semenero to make it 64-57 with 6:28 left, but then Megan Ford missed a shot that would have cut it to five which seemed to take the wind out of their sails for the time being as Tara Roach's putback made it 68-58 with 4:44 left.
Northwest, which had been hitting their free throws all night, missed a pair as well as a layup which sparked another run as Megan Ford hit a jumper and Reyana Colson hit two free throws to cut it to 68-62 with 2:33 left. But then Gabby Curtis made an All-American-type play as her layup put Northwest back in control and she followed with a pair of free throws to make it 72-62 with 1:48 left. As five straight 3-point attempts from Pomona fruitlessly clanked off the rim, Northwest pulled away at the line, getting free throws from Abby Henry, Shelly Martin, and Kyla Roehrig down the stretch for the win.
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