First half struggles lead to loss against No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney for Northwest women's basketball

With four seconds left on the clock, Evelyn Vasquez received the inbounds pass from teammate sophomore forward Jayna Green and immediately took the shot from beyond the three-point line.

The ball bounced off the rim on the south basket of Bearcat Arena, and dropped into the hands of Nebraska-Kearney graduate student guard Haley Simental, who proceeded to dribble out remaining time on the clock. The once roaring home crowd halted to near silence as the buzzer went off in the arena.

Even if the Northwest freshman guard’s final shot had remained true, it would not have been enough for the Bearcats (11-4) to knock off No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney (14-2).T The final score of the MIAA matchu ending 67-60 in favor of the Lopers.

“I mean, it’s a two possession game at the last minute of the game,” Northwest coach Austin Meyer said. “I think our kids know how good we can be.”

The offensive woes that had plagued the ‘Cats during their meeting with No. 2 Fort Hays State three days prior were present once again in the first half of the Bearcats’ game against the Lopers Dec. 15.

“They are one of the best teams in the league, but we can’t have starts like this,” Meyer said.

Northwest committed nine turnovers in the first half to go along with 8-for-20 (40%) shooting.

A bulk of the turnovers came in the first quarter when the team committed six to start the game,the Lopers took advantage scoring 11 points off turnovers in one quarter. The offensive woes put Northwest at an early uphill climb, down 20-12 at the end of the first .

“I think we got rushed a little bit,” Meyer said. “We turned it over and gave them easy points. The first quarter was the difference in this game.”

“It seemed like everyone was a little bit off at the beginning,” freshman guard Molly Hartnett said.

The second quarter was no better for the Bearcats.. The team shot 4-for-12 (33.3%), including 1-for-3 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.

Almost as if an entirely new team came out of the Northwest locker room to start the second half, the offensive struggles in the first half were all but gone in the third quarter.

Northwest was lights out from three-point range in the third quarter, going 3-for-3, to go along with an overall field goal percentage of 77.8 (7-for-9). The team was also able to clean up the turnovers, committing three in the third.

The offensive spark allowed the Bearcats to outscore the Lopers 19-16 in the third quarter to bring the score to 52-43 with the Lopers still in front, but giving the ‘Cats new hope of a comeback going into the final quarter.

“Coach Meyer just talked about confidence, like, ‘We’re in this game still,’ and like it wasn’t over,” Hartnett said.

Northwest continued to battle back, bringing it within 5 points twice in the final stages of the contest, and even outscoring the Lopers 17-15 in the fourth quarter. In the end, however, Nebraska-Kearney’s early cushion, along with the Bearcats shooting 1-for-7 (14.3%) from three-point range in the fourth, proved to be too much to overcome.

The Lopers were able to escape with the 7-point victory for Northwest’s second loss of the week, both to ranked opponents.

“I think we can take away going into our next games, and I think we can get wins and know how good we actually are,” Hartnett said.

Despite the losses, Hartnett said the games against No. 2 Fort Hays State and No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney still show how much the team has improved and that it can compete with anybody on the schedule.

“You don’t want moral victories, but I think it shows our program is getting better and we’re getting to a higher point,” Meyer said. “We still got a long way to go, though, and we got a lot of road games coming up so it’s gonna be challenging.”