They have moved up to 19th in the rankings now and have already had a lot of accomplishments. They have won the MIAA regular season title outright for the first time in school history and they have won both the MIAA Tournament and the MIAA Title in the same year for the first time in school history as well.
This year's version of the Bearcats owe a debt to the 2003-2004 team, which set the standard for the rest of the teams to follow. They had a disappointing 11-15 campaign in 2001-2002, in which they beat #1 Missouri Western at home on a last-second shot. But on the last game of the season, in which they beat Missouri Rolla, the celebration turned to tears as they learned that Truman State had overcome a double digit deficit to beat Missouri Southern and claim the 8th and last spot of the MIAA playoffs that year. They had lost multiple double digit leads that year which made all the difference between being an upper division team and being shut out of the playoffs.
But out of the ashes of that disappointing season, the Bearcats regrouped and showed a high level of dedication throughout the offseason and in conditioning. All the hard work paid off as they went 15-10 the next year and made the tournament, winning a game in the first round. It was their first winning season in five years and the highest they had finished in the MIAA in some time. And they had everyone back for next year. And in 2003-2004, they enjoyed the fruits of their labor. Led by former Albany standout Brooke Hogue (now a coach at Mound City), former Tarkio standout Ashley Poptanycz, and 6'2" force Sarah Vollertson, the Bearcats won the MIAA tournament that year and made it into the national tournament for the first time in 15 years. Many good teams have come and gone. But it is not every team that can transform a franchise like that and this group did just that. Northwest would go on to win one more MIAA Tournament, make two more national tournaments before this year's team came to be.
Like the 2003-2004 team, this year's version of the Bearcats have a dominant post player in Kyla Roehrig who can take over a game. She was named tournament MVP, getting 26 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Emporia and setting a school record with 9 blocks in the 69-62 win over Truman. On top of that, she was named MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and set a school record for blocks in a season, beating out teammate Gentry Dietz.
Emporia came in as the defending National Champions and Alli Volkens, who got the MVP for the Elite Eight, did all she could in keeping her team's season alive. She got 29 points and 18 rebounds. Emporia got into a hole but fought back to within two points at 52-50 in the second half But then Gentry Dietz got a layup with 12:44 left to break the run and Kyla Roehrig got a putback to make it 56-50. The game stayed around six points until Gabby Curtis, the MIAA's MVP for this year, got a jumper and Shelly Martin added two free throws. Emporia hit a 3 to cut it to seven, but Kyla Roehrig struck again with a putback, Gentry Dietz got a layup following a Curtis steal, and Gabby showed her MVP form as her 3-pointer put it out of reach at 71-57 with 4:53 left.
In the semifinals, Northwest beat Pitt State 83-76 as they got five players in double figures. Shelly Martin got 22 points off of six 3-pointers, Abby Henry got 9 for 10 from the line, and Gabby Curtis got 18 points as Northwest was able to play at a much faster pace than they did in the low-scoring grind in Maryville earlier this year. Northwest led by as much as 16 in the second half, but then Pitt made use of their depth, coming to within 69-63 with 5:54 left in the game. But then Pitt missed two 3-pointers that would have made it a one possession game and Shelly Martin's 3-pointer made it 74-63 with 4:28 left. Pitt fought back again, getting to within 79-74 with 27 seconds left, but Northwest went 5 for 6 down the stretch to claim the win.
Against Truman, the scrappy Bulldogs gave Northwest all they could handle, but Kyla Roehrig would not let Northwest lose as she set a school record with 9 blocks in the game. Northwest scored the first 11 points of the game but Truman fought back to lead three times early in the second half before Northwest went back in front off a Shelly Martin jumper with 12:32 left. Gentry Dietz's jumper made it 52-45, but Truman fought back to within two again at 56-54 with 3:29 left. Truman had a chance to tie, but threw it away as Gabby Curtis made an MVP type play as she got a steal and drive to make it 58-54. Curtis struck again as her jumper in the paint made it 60-54 with 2:26 left. Kyla Roehrig cleaned up on a Curtis miss to make it 8 at 62-54 to put Northwest back in control.
The Bearcats lose Kyla Roehrig, Gabby Curtis, Gentry Dietz, and Melissa Nyquist from this year's squad. Roehrig and Dietz formed a front line that was difficult for other teams to solve; Pitt State was one of the few teams to match Northwest heightwise. Gabby was one of the top clutch players that Northwest has ever had while Melissa Nyquist was always full of energy while either on the bench or on the floor.
However, they will return Abby Henry, who emerged as one of the top point guards of the league along with Shelly Martin, who has become one of the top 3-point shooters on the team. Emily Hauder took a medical redshirt this year and will bring a lot of versatility to the team next year when she returns. Monai Douglass earned playing time as a defensive stopper. Maryville product Meridee Scott is one of the fastest players on the court while she is out there. Tara Roach and Alexis Boeh brought a lot of energy to the floor any time they came off the bench to spell Dietz or Kyla. And Candace Boeh, twin sister of Alexis has a wide variety of post moves that she can use at any time.
No comments:
Post a Comment