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By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team fed off the energy of the crowd, forcing its rival Missouri Western to play a full 40 minutes to win.
 
Despite falling 66-59 to Western Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena, Northwest showed in long stretches that it could play with the top team in the MIAA.
 
"There is a lot to take away that we can carry into our next game," said Northwest senior Tember Schechinger. "I think we lost that game in the second quarter because we definitely fought back in the third and fourth quarter."
 
In the first half, the Bearcats overcame a 20-13 deficit and tied the game at 26-26 on a basket by freshman Arbrie Benson.
 
"Arbrie has been struggling to finish around the basket," Schechinger said. "This game she really stepped up. I thought she played well defensively and offensively."
 
Unfortunately, for Northwest, the Griffons went on a 12-2 run to conclude the second quarter. Western went into halftime ahead 38-28.
 
"I think during that stretch, I don't know how many turnovers took place," Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. "It seemed like one thing after another. We weren't getting stops. We didn't have good flow on offense. Against a team like this, you have to minimize your mistakes."
 
The Griffons increased their lead to 51-36 midway through the third quarter. Once again, Northwest found an offensive spark and closed to 52-44 when junior Jasmin Howe made two free throws.
 
The problem for the Bearcats was they couldn't sustain their offense long enough to keep pace with the high-octane pace of Western. Senior forward Mhykeah Baez and senior guard LaQuinta Jefferson were a difficult matchup for the Bearcats. They used their height and quickness to get baskets.
 
"I thought we had great defense for the most part and Shelby Mustain and Carlie Wilhelmi came off the bench and did a good job contesting shots in the second half because they were really going at us in the post," Scheel said. "I think late, we did a good job of it, but they got the momentum going so early that they kind of kept rolling with it."
 
The Bearcats refused to give in, even when they faced another double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Northwest closed to 62-55 and had possession of the ball two different times to get closer with a little over 3 minutes left.
 
The Griffons just had a couple of more offensive plays in their arsenal to prevent Northwest from to get within one possession of tying the game.
 
Western stays in first place with the win, improving to 24-2 overall and 18-2 in the MIAA.
 
Northwest returns to action 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Emporia State. The Bearcats need to win to keep its slim hopes of making the conference tournament alive.
 
Benson and Shelby Mustain finished with 11 points each, and sophomore Tanya Meyer led Northwest with 13.