Once again, Northwest dominated on the boards, getting 54 boards to 43 for UCO. The Bronchoes were able to match up with Northwest with Gentry on the bench with foul trouble, but they were not able to match up with them in the second half as Gentry was able to avoid picking up her fourth foul. Northwest played one of the more fundamentally sound games all year as they only picked up three fouls the entire second half while getting into the double bonus against UCO. They outscored them 21-12 from the free throw line. Kyla Roehrig was a beast on the boards again with 16 and all the starters got at least five. Named to the All Tournament Team were Gabby Curtis, Gentry Dietz, and Kyla Roehrig. Curtis was named Tournament MVP.
For UCO, the game plan was to follow the script of their win over Northeastern State -- hang around, get the other team in foul trouble, and pull away at the end. But it was Northwest who broke from the script as they were able to turn the tables on them in the foul category and they were able to get on the line and pulled away at the end.
The two teams started off cautiously as they played to a 4-4 tie for the first four minutes. Kyla Roehrig scored twice for Northwest off a putback and a layup after a Shelly Martin steal and Gabby Curtis assist. Central Oklahoma countered with four from their leading scorer Ashley Beckley.
Northwest finally got ahead as Abby Henry found Gentry Dietz in the paint and then got a steal and found Gabby Curtis for a layup. Heather Davis' layup closed to within two on a fast break layup and the score stayed there for the next two minutes before Ashley Thayer found Gabby Curtis for a jumper in the paint to make it 12-8 with 12:55 left. Shelly Martin's 3-pointer made it 15-10 with 11:12 left, but then UCO closed to within one as Ashley Beckley got a jumper, Alex Richardson got a jumper, and Britney Morgan hit a 3-pointer. Tara Roach picked up her third foul, which meant extended playing time for Alexis Boeh and Melissa Nyquist as Gentry would soon follow her to the bench.
UCO moved out in front as Alex Richardson scored to make it 21-18 with 7:20 left, but then Alexis Boeh got an offensive board and hit Shelly Martin for a 3-pointer to put Northwest back in front at 25-23 with 5:25 left. It stayed a one possession game the rest of the way as UCO went to the line at will down the stretch while Abby Henry scored six points in the last three minutes of the half for Northwest as they stayed ahead 38-35 at the break.
Gentry Dietz came right back into the game and made her presence known right off the bat despite three fouls as she blocked Alyssa Fuxa's layup attempt, which led to a free throw at the other end. The Bronchoes missed a layup and then Curtis hit a free throw; Gentry Dietz then got a steal and got it to Abby Henry, who fed Shelly Martin for a 3-pointer to make it 43-35 as Northwest would get a lead they would not relinquish although UCO hung around for much of the remainder of the game. It was a team effort and there were many different players carrying the team at different times; for instance, Abby Henry carried them at the end of the first half when they were battling foul trouble while it was Gentry who was carrying them early in the second.
Shelly Martin got a steal and Gabby Curtis missed the ensuing jumper, but got the offensive board back and Shelly Martin got her the ball for a 3-pointer to make it 50-40 with 15:11 left. But then Alex Richardson, scoring way above her average, did all she could to get her team back in the game as consecutive layups got it back to 50-44. She was being guarded by Gentry Dietz, who did not want to pick up her fourth foul and UCO did all they could to exploit their matchup advantage. The shots were not falling for Northwest and everything was clanking in and out and Autumn Huffman's 3-pointer made it a one possession game at 50-47 with 12:54 left. UCO got a steal and a layup attempt but Huffman missed the layup try. Central Oklahoma got a stop and another chance to tie or cut it to one, but Kyla Roehrig blocked Huffman's layup try and Shelly Martin hit Kyla Roehrig inside to give them some breathing room. Northwest would do a much better job getting it into their post players in the second half, which gave them some badly needed buckets when the shots were not falling. Two more times UCO cut it to three, but Ashley Thayer hit Tara Roach for a jumper and then Gabby Curtis made an MVP play as she converted a jumper and turned it into a 3-point play after Shelly Martin had kept it alive with an offensive board to make it 57-51.
Abby Henry found Gentry Dietz for a layup to finally give Northwest some breathing room at 60-53, but Richardson and the Bronchoes kept hanging around like they did last time, keeping it between 5 and 7. But Northwest got a big break when they got in the bonus while only having one foul themselves as they could afford to be aggressive on defense the rest of the way and get on the line on the offensive end.
Both teams kept trading misses for a 1:37 span, but then Alex Richardson got a steal and that led to an Alyssa Fuxa 3-pointer that made it 62-60 with 6:16 left in the game. It was gut check time once again for the Cardiac Cats II, but they had been through this situation many times and handled it and they did it again. Gabby Curtis made another MVP play when Kyla Roehrig kicked it out to her and she hit the jumper. Again, Richardson closed it to two and again Northwest responded as Kyla Roehrig answered with a putback. Richardson answered with two free throws, but Gentry Dietz cleaned up on a miss for a layup. Northwest finally bought a stop on defense and Gabby Curtis' free throw made it 69-64 with 3:36 left. Alex Richardson, who had scored way above her average that night in getting 28 points, finally missed one as she missed a layup try and the putback was no good as Gentry got the defensive board and Abby Henry got the jumper after Northwest burned some time off the clock to make it 71-64 with 2:51 left.
Richardson missed again and Gentry ripped down another defensive board and it was free throw time as Abby Henry missed a layup try but got her own board and drew the foul and hit both to make it 73-64 with 2:03 left.
UCO would not go quietly as Heather Davis hot a layup and then Northwest turned it over with 1:24 left as Kyla Roehrig got the turnover. But she made up for it at the other end by blocking Richardson and Shelly Martin got the defensive board and knocked down both free throws to make it 75-66 with 59 seconds left. Heather Davis missed a layup try that would have made it seven and Gabby Curtis' free throw with 44 seconds left finally iced it for Northwest as UCO would not get closer than 8 the rest of the way; Shelly Martin went 6 for 6 from the line in the last 36 seconds.
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