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Tiger women see season end
3/2/2008
By NICK McQUEEN
Hays Daily News
Going into the regular season finale Saturday, the Northwest Missouri State University women's basketball team had just one thing to decide -- whether the Bearcats would be wearing green or white in the first round Thursday of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament.
Fort Hays State University had more important issues on its agenda, looking for a berth in the tourney. The only way to give itself a chance was with a win -- and it showed.
The Tigers jumped out to a lead late in the first half, and came away with a 69-59 win at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
"We came out with a lot of intensity,"¬ said Tiger senior point guard Meshia Mason. "We knew we had nothing to lose. We had to beat this team -- do our part for getting us into the tournament."
Despite the win, the Tigers fell just short of that goal. Missouri Western State University defeated Missouri Southern 70-58 to earn the eighth and final spot. A Griffon loss would have forced a tie, one which the Tigers would have had the upper hand for the eighth spot.
"A win is a win, and anytime you can go out on top against a quality opponent like Northwest is exciting,"¬ Tiger coach Annette Wiles said. "It's great to have a win for these seniors also, and they are so deserving of a win like this."
It was the defensive effort on the part of the Tigers that got things done, coupled with a game-high 22 points for forward Brianna Willhite, the second of three seniors playing their final game in a Tiger uniform.
"Willhite is a handful," Northwest Missouri coach Gene Steinmeyer said. "The other three times we've faced her, we held her, but she really hurt us tonight. There isn't much defense for a jump hook from 15."
The Bearcats got 22 offensive rebounds, but hit just 29.4 percent from the floor for the game, including a 7-of-23 mark from 3-point range. They were led by a double-double for senior Mandi Schumacher with 18 points and 12 boards.
In the final five minutes of the first half, already the feeling was the night belonged to Fort Hays, which needed a win. After the two battled to a 16-16 stalemate for over three minutes, the Tigers broke the tie with a pair of free throws for sophomore Erica Biel. Fort Hays proceeded to outscore the Bearcats 12-6 over the final five minutes to take a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
"We showed a lot of mental toughness tonight," said the third Tiger senior, Sheena Kuntzsch. "We lost our lead right out of halftime, but we decided this game was ours, and we came out and made it happen."
The Tigers held Northwest Missouri to just 29.4 percent shooting from the floor and forced 19 turnovers.
"Annette's teams really play defense," Steinmeyer said. "We got a lot better looks in the second half than in the first half, but give Hays credit for the tough defense. That was the difference in the ball game."
Despite grabbing 11 first-half rebounds, Northwest Missouri hit just 30.6 percent from the floor and was 0-for-1 from the free throw line before the intermission, with 10 points in the paint from Schumacher. The Tigers had a balanced attack in the first half, with seven points from sophomore Kayla Klug. Lauren Williams ended the night with 17 points for the Bearcats, who will play fourth-seeded Missouri Southern in Thursday's first round at Kansas City, Mo.
Assistant sports editor Nick McQueen can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 128, or by e-mail at nmcqueen@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
