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By David Boyce  |  2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule

MARYVILLE, Mo. - At some point in February, senior Tanya Meyer will feel some mental and physical fatigue from a long basketball season. Practice starts in October, games begin in early November and other than a brief break during Christmas, the college basketball seasons last six months.

Of course, Meyer wants to make her final season at Northwest Missouri State the best in her career. She is coming off a junior year which saw her lead the MIAA in scoring with a 19.6 point per game average. She earned second-team All-MIAA.
 
But no matter how well a season is going, college basketball players typically hit a wall sometime in mid-February before the excitement of postseason energizes them again.
 
Well, this season, Meyer will harken back to the first week of August if the 2017-18 appears to be trudging along. Meyer was one of 10 players from the MIAA, and the NSIC on the USA Division II Select Team that played four games in Brazil.
 
While the competition against players from another country will benefit Meyer for the upcoming season, the cultural experience of playing in Rio and Sao Paulo, most likely will be longer lasting.
 
"It was a big cultural shock going there," Meyer said. "You realize how much you take things for granted here in the United States. We played a University team and played at their venue, and it was standing water on the floor because it had rained the night before.
 
"You know here in the States there are high schools and middle schools and even some elementary schools that have better courts for kids to play at than a college in Brazil does. But that is all that they know. That was the biggest thing. It was a humbling experience seeing what they have and the resources they have and don't have over there."
 
The experience for Meyer was rewarding on many levels. She got to know four players from the MIAA much better. Also making the team were: Chelsey Henry, Missouri Southern; Paige Redmond, Central Missouri; and Paige Imhoff and Brenlee McPherson, Pittsburg State.
 
"Yes it was enjoyable getting to know each other," Meyer said. "You see them on the court in the season but don't talk to them or have a conversation with them.
 
"I think it will be cool once the season starts when we play each other, after the game, you will be able to talk to them. Being together in a different country for 10 days, you become friends."
 
As for the basketball, Meyer encountered a more physical style. She said few fouls were called, so you had to make adjustments.
 
"I think it was perfect for her just to be able to get out of her comfort zone and play with some players she knows nothing about and play against some international kids she doesn't know anything about," Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. "It was an opportunity for her to grow as a person and a player."
 
Scheel is counting on Meyer to be one of the leaders on a team that will have a new look. Meyer is one of five returners. Scheel added six freshmen and two transfers.
 
Meyer is a good player for the freshmen to follow. She played right away in her first season and had steadily improved each year.
 
"She will be a big piece, naturally, as she has been," Scheel said. "She is one of those types of leaders who leads by example. She is not a vocal leader by any means. We talked about that. She understands that. Her biggest thing is making sure she brings her A-game every day."
 
A year ago, the Bearcats won four more games than the previous season. They won a couple of conference road games, something they didn't accomplish in Meyer's sophomore season.
 
Despite so many freshmen coming in, a foundation was set during the summer that should help Northwest continue its upward trend. Instead of playing pickup basketball against each other on campus, many of the players traveled to Kansas City and played in a league.
 
"It was a lot of fun," Meyer said. "Honestly, it didn't matter how we did in the summer league. It was better than getting together and playing 5-on-5 against each other. Playing against different players and different teams and having fun, and that is what this is all about.
 
"We were able to get to know each other, so we don't have to go through that the first couple of weeks in preseason."
 
Scheel agreed that the players have already taken the first step to building team chemistry well before the first practice.
 
"It was an opportunity for them to figure each other out and for our returners to teach the new girls and communicate with the new girls," Scheel said. "As coaches, we are not there. For them to do that puts you ahead this time in the school year. If you don't do anything like that and this week is your first time around each other, then you are starting from scratch."
 
Now that school has begun, Meyer is eager to get the basketball season started even though she knows it is a grind at times.
 
"I am probably the most excited in a couple of years to get back to school and get back on the court with my teammates," Meyer said.
  *Photos courtesy of Tanya Meyer