The late Wayne Winstead coached the last edition of the Bearcat women to win a conference title, an accomplishment that he always referred to as one of the highlights of his coaching career, along with coaching the Sheridan teams of the 1960's that were dominant in the Platte Valley conference including a girls team in the late 1960's that won all but one of their games. The 1983-84 team beat eventual National Champion Central in one of the best-attended games in school history; the Bearcats won in overtime to become first in the national rankings. It turned out to be the last game that Central would lose. This year's team has provided plenty of cardiac moments but always seemed to get out of them enough times to win consistently.
Playing their last game for Northwest this year were Melissa Nyquist, Gabby Curtis, Gentry Dietz, and Kyla Roehrig. Their entire families were recognized and the National Anthem was sung in Navajo in honor of Curtis. Gabby was introduced in Navajo as well as in English. All of them will be missed next year and provided invaluable contributions to this year's squad. Nyquist was one of several players to always provide energy off the bench. When not playing, she was easily the most animated of the players, always providing a running color commentary for the rest of her teammates. Gabby Curtis turned into one of the strongest clutch players of the league, getting 35 points in one game and 34 in another game. Gentry Dietz and Kyla Roehrig teamed up to provide one of the most lethal 1-2 post combinations in the MIAA.
Southwest Baptist elected to play a sagging zone on Northwest and make them beat them from outside. Northwest hit from outside early as Shelly Martin, Gabby Curtis, and Abby Henry all hit 3-pointers to make it 9-3 at the 14:45 mark. But then Baptist came back as Northwest committed three straight turnovers and got shots from Ashleigh Gallio, Lakendra Smith, and a 3-pointer from Gallio to take a 10-9 lead with 12:34 left. Ashley Thayer hit a 3-pointer for Northwest to make it 14-10, but Kourtni Williams hit a layup to make it 14-12 as Baptist kept hanging around.
But then the game turned crazy after Shelly Martin found Kyla Roehrig for a fast break with 9:01 left. Baptist failed to take advantage of a pair of Northwest turnovers and then the Baptist coach exchanged words with one of the officials and drew a technical foul; he had to be restrained by one of the other officials as well as his assistant before he could pick up his second technical. Shelly Martin hit one out of two free throws and then Abby Henry drove in against three defenders to make it 19-12. As Baptist was chucking up quick 3-pointers and throwing the ball away, Gabby Curtis took over as she got a pullup after Northwest kept it alive with an offensive board, hit a baseline 3-pointer after a kickout from Gentry, and Abby Henry got a leaping steal which turned into a putback from Curtis. Curtis then got a steal and drive to make it 28-12.
But then all of a sudden, Baptist hit a pair of 3-pointers as Courtney Heady hit one and then Tanis Spani hit another to get it back under double digits at 28-20 with 3:19 left as Northwest suddenly couldn't buy a bucket. They only managed a putback from Dietz as Baptist got a layup from Lakendra Smith, a pair of free throws from Kourtni Williams after a steal from Jacqui Zelenka, and another score off a steal as Ashleigh Gallio got a steal and hit Lakendra Smith with 46 seconds left to make it 30-26 at the break.
Northwest settled down at the start of the second half as Gabby Curtis hit Shelly Martin for a jumper, Abby Henry hit Martin for a drive, and then Gentry Dietz hit Curtis for a drive to make it 36-26 with 18:24 left in the game.
But then Northwest struggled with taking care of the ball again as Kourtni Williams' steal led to a layup for Baptist and started another run. Tanis Spani came off the bench to hit her second 3-pointer of the game and then Jacqui Zelenka's 3-pointer with 14:21 left made it 38-37.
But Northwest had been in this situation many times and for the second time this year, they used a 3-pointer from Shelly Martin to bail them out; Martin's 3 had also rescued them against Central in the closing seconds. This one was not as dramatic, but it gave Northwest a push in the right direction again and put them up 41-37 with 14:05 left.
The game turned into a defensive slugfest as Baptist shot four times from downtown and came up short all four times. Finally, Kyla Roehrig kicked it out to Abby Henry with 11:50 left to make it 43-37 off an inbounds play. Tanis Spani hurt Northwest again with her 3rd 3-pointer of the game to make it 43-41 with 10:39 left, but then Northwest pushed it right back down the court and Gabby Curtis hit Ashley Thayer for a 3-pointer to make it a two possession game for good. It was Thayer whose game-tying 3-pointers helped keep Northwest alive against Truman on the road, and this one was just as big.
Abby Henry followed with a pair of free throws for Northwest to make it 48-41. Jacqui Zelenka went backdoor for Baptist, but then Kyla Roehrig hit two free throws to stretch the lead out to 50-43 with 8:04 left. Baptist missed two 3-point tries and then Abby Henry pushed it up the floor and hit a pullup 3-pointer with 6:34 left to get it back into double digits again. Northwest forced a shot clock violation on Baptist and then Kyla Roehrig hit two free throws to make it 55-43 with 5:48 left.
Northwest missed a point blank look which led to a pullup from Whitney Malone and free throws from Zelenka to make it 55-47. But then Abby Henry drove into the lane for a 3-point play, Kyla Roehrig blocked Lakendra Smith's layup attempt out of bounds off Smith, and then got a putback on the other end to make it 60-47 as Northwest went up double digits for good. With the game decided, the Baptist coach put former Northeast Nodaway standout Jacqueline Schulte in to the applause of the home fans in the closing seconds.
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