Northwest Missouri State's women won their second game in a row Saturday, a 65-55 win over Central Oklahoma in a game that fluctuated back and forth for a long time. First, Northwest jumped out to a 10-0 lead as Maggie Marnin had six points and Annie Matthews four as they found they were able to establish their post players. Monique Stevens had three assists during the stretch while Annie Matthews and Ashleigh Nelson had one each. Maggie Marnin had two blocks on the other end for Northwest.
But after the UCO coach put five in and took five out, the Bearcats started struggling as they committed four turnovers in a two minute span and UCO went back in front 17-14 at the 9:28 mark. Northwest had to regroup and they did as Meridee Scott came off the bench and hit two free throws to put Northwest back in front at 20-19 with 7:31 left.
Ashleigh Nelson's 3-pointer off a pass from Tember Schechinger made it 27-21 at the two minute mark, but consecutive turnovers killed Northwest's momentum and UCO scored the last five points of the half, giving them plenty of momentum going into the second half.
Northwest threw the ball away two more times in the first two minutes of the third quarter and UCO went in front 34-29, but then Annie Matthews blocked Jill Bryan's layup attempt that would have made it three possessions and Northwest started coming back. A blocked shot by Maggie Marnin set up a fast break from Ashley Thayer which cut it to one at 34-33. Finally, Monique Stevens hit Ashley Thayer for a 3-pointer to tie it up and Meridee Scott followed with a layup. Monique Stevens then pushed it ahead to Tember Schechinger following a missed 3-pointer as Northwest went ahead for good at 40-36, although the Bronchoes were never far behind.
Hayley Bryan's layup with 11:14 left cut it to 43-42 and UCO had two different tried to go ahead, but a missed jumper and a turnover stopped them from getting in front. Ashley Thayer hit Ashleigh Nelson for a 3-pointer to make it 46-42 before a long scoring lull followed. A Northwest turnover finally led to a Britney Morgan layup with 8:17 to break a two minute scoring drought for both teams and UCO was down 46-44. They got a stop and a chance to tie or take the lead, but Monique Stevens got a steal and drew a foul and hit two free throws to make it 48-44 with 7:32 left.
Once again, UCO made it one possession with a McKenzie Solberg 3-pointer. But then Northwest got back to playing to their strength, getting the ball into the post. Monique Stevens hit Maggie Marnin twice in the post as Northwest got out of danger for the moment. Annie Matthews added a shot off a pass from Maggie Marnin and they were up 54-47 with 5:25 left. The danger was that they would go cold like they did in the Jewell game, where they went up nine at home with five minutes left, but couldn't buy a bucket down the stretch and lost.
Annie Matthews cleaned up on a missed layup to make it nine at 56-47 with four minutes left, but then Northwest had a sloppy sequence where they gave up a shooting foul and two free throws and then Maggie Marnin was called for a charge, allowing them to cut it to 56-51. Two Savannah Hamilton free throws cut it to one possession again at 56-53, but Monique Stevens hit Maggie Marnin in the post once again to get it out of striking distance as Northwest went up 58-53 with 2:24 left. UCO had two misses and a turnover down the stretch and then had to foul as Northwest went seven for eight from the line in the final 1:09 of the game.
Northwest did not allow a lot of easy looks at the basket as they held UCO to 26.9% shooting for the game. They outrebounded them 44-34, one of their best rebounding performances of the year as they limited them to one shot down the court when it counted. They turned the ball over too much (24), but they were able to shoot well enough and play strong enough defense that they still got the win.
Maggie Marnin led four Bearcats in double figures with 18 points. Meridee Scott followed with 11 and Annie Matthews and Monique Stevens had 10 each. Ashley Thayer and Ashleigh Nelson had 7 each and Tember Schechinger had 2. Annie Matthews and Maggie Marnin both had double doubles as they had 10 boards each. Monique Stevens had a career high of 9 assists. Maggie Marnin had 5 blocks while Monique led with four steals. Maggie Marnin followed with three.
Northwest was outscored 27-20 in points off turnovers and 41-18 off the bench. But they outscored UCO in the paint 36-24 and in fast break points 17-4.
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