MARYVILLE, Mo. — Northwest Missouri State and Washburn entered Saturday’s game tied in the MIAA standings at 10-8. That made Saturday’s showdown at Bearcat Arena an important game with the MIAA Tournament just a week away from being set up.
The game lived up to the hype with Northwest (16-9; 11-8 MIAA) earning a 58-53 overtime win over Washburn (12-13; 10-9 MIAA). The Bearcats avenged a 58-52 loss last month at Topeka.
“I don’t feel like you win a lot of games when you go 19 out of 64, but I think it shows like the fight on our team,” North West coach Austin Meyer said. .
The first quarter was a defensive brawl as six and a half minutes into the game the score was tied at 2-2. The offenses started to find their way late in the first quarter and Bearcat senior Caitlyn Jordon provided the biggest shot of the quarter with a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.
The shot put Northwest 9-7. Jordon spent four years waiting for his chance with the Bearcats. In her first three years at Maryville, she had nine career points.
“There are definitely tough times, but in reality this year has been amazing,” Jordon said. “Seeing how our program has progressed and improved over the years is all I could really ask for. And being part of that is really important. I’m super grateful for the minutes now, but at the end of the day, I just want us to win.
As a senior, she had seven points this season heading into Saturday, but clearly earned Meyer’s trust and played a career-high 13 minutes against Washburn, hitting two 3-pointers and stealing a steal for a career-high of six points.
“She’s a kid who hasn’t played much all year, is in the South game, is playing well and has had two weeks of really good practice,” Meyer said. “She was great today. … Just a really good kid and she’s the ultimate teammate.
The Bearcats continued their momentum in the second quarter as Kelsey Fields scored and Mallory McConkey and Molly Hartnett extended the lead to 10 with 7:52 left in the second quarter.
Washburn and their star Hunter Bentley however refused to go easy and trailing 14 points from Bentley in the first half, the Ichabods fought back to level the game at 26-26 at halftime.
“Bentley was really good tonight,” Meyer said.
Bentley opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but Northwest answered with a McConkey jumper and a 3-pointer from rookie Peyton Kelderman. Bentley returned to the match with its own sweater. A Bentley 3-point play gave Washburn their biggest lead at 38-31.
“She was playing today,” Kelderman said of Bentley. “She was hitting lay-ups, pull-ups and everything.”
Now it was the Bearcats’ turn to refuse to quit. Emma Atwood had a layup and Jordon hit the biggest shot of her Bearcat career with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two.
“It’s super exciting,” Jordan said. “Obviously I always try to stay ready throughout the season, take what I can and make the most of those opportunities. I’m grateful to them.
Washburn took a 40-38 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Bearcats took control with Fields and McConkey scoring early in the quarter. Northwest led for most of the final period until Macy Doebele scored with 21 seconds left to give Washburn a 47-46 lead.
Northwest responded by giving the ball to super senior McConkey and letting the South Nodaway graduate make the call. McConkey started driving and when the defense crumbled she gave it to Kelderman.
“They just helped and Mall made a perfect pass,” Meyer said.
The Waukee, Iowa product drilled the 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
“It’s kind of fair – everybody walk away, let Mall do his thing,” Kelderman said. “She was playing great one-on-one and then they helped. I was open in the corner and I shot it. It was a big hit and I’m glad he got in.
The celebration was short-lived as Washburn responded at the other end by feeding Doebele for a buzzer-beater that sent the game into overtime.
Fields staked his Bearcats to a 4-point lead in the extra session with a layup and two foul shots. Washburn came back to tie the game at 53-53 with two and a half minutes remaining.
McConkey put the Bearcats in place for good with a jumper in the paint and Kelderman made a free throw to push the lead to three before Hartnett paired with two seconds left to seal the win.
“It was a huge win for us,” Kelderman said. “It wasn’t the greatest of games at times, but we fought hard and stayed there the whole game. It was great to come out on top in that one.
Northwest is currently seventh in the MIAA rankings with a chance to tie with Central Oklahoma for sixth place if they beat Emporia State on Monday night at Bearcat Arena.
“At this point, every win we can get is huge,” Kelderman said.
