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By David Boyce  |  Facebook Photo Album

QUINCY, Ill. - A 16-0 run in the first half and a 14-0 run in the second half by Quincy University doomed the Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team in a 79-70 loss Saturday evening at Pepsi Arena.
 
Simply put, two dry spells prevented Northwest from picking up a confidence-building road win.  But the Bearcats did plenty of things right to take a positive outlook into Monday's road game at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.
 
"At times, we showed that we are a team and we were talking and playing really well together," said Northwest junior Mallory McAndrews, who finished with 15 points. "We have to put a full 40 minutes together next time. We have to play together and play passionate."
 
Because the Bearcats kept battling in the second quarter when nothing went right, they were able to put up a stern challenge in the third quarter.
 
Northwest came out in the third quarter down by 11 and quickly got the momentum on its side with a basket by senior Tanya Meyer. But the real fire was lit by the freshman spark plug point guard Jaelyn Haggard, who hit a three-pointer to close the gap to 43-36 with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
 
Ninety seconds later, Haggard dropped another three-pointer, pulling Northwest to within five at 46-41. Haggard finished with 13 points.The Bearcats drew closer on another three-point bomb by junior Macy Williams. Northwest trailed only 46-44 with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
 
"I think that helped our confidence big time," McAndrews said. "We know that we can come back. That was big for us."
 
Unfortunately, Northwest ended the third quarter like it started the second quarter. Quincy scored the last nine points to close out the quarter and went into the fourth quarter with a 55-44 lead. All the hard work to make it a one possession game was wiped away in 3 minutes.
 
Quincy scored the first five to start the fourth quarter and increased its lead to 60-44. Northwest didn't give up. When junior Mallory McAndrew hit her third three-pointer of the game, Northwest trailed 65-57 with 4:18 left.
 
"Right now, overall, we are not playing well enough as a team for 40 minutes to have those breakdowns," Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. "If we can start to limit those, good things will happen because we have shown we can do that.
 
"We have to continue to do what is working and not get comfortable. Tonight, a couple of times, for whatever reason, we felt we could play comfortable and they made us pay."
 
The Bearcats just wasn't able enough to get on a big enough run to once again overcome a Quincy run. Also, Northwest had no answer for Quincy senior Anika Webster, who scored inside and outside and finished with a game-high 33 points.
 
"She was a very tough match up for us," Scheel said. "Going into the game, we knew exactly what she was going to be like."
 
A 16-0 run by Quincy to start the second quarter ruined a solid first quarter by Northwest and sent the Bearcats into the locker room trailing 40-29. And thanks to nice execution with .7 seconds left that led to a layup by Tanya Meyer, the Bearcats would have been down by an unlucky 13 points.
 
It certainly appeared that good fortune was on Northwest's side in the last 5 minutes of the first quarter. Down 15-8, the Bearcats hit their stride. It started with two free throws by senior Mele Tupouata.
 
McAndrews followed with a three-pointer and another basket by Tupouata tied the game at 15-15.
 
Northwest took its first lead at 18-17 on a long three-pointer by Meyer and concluded the first quarter with a free throw by freshman Zoie Howard.
 
"It was great to come out and be competitive right from the start of the game," Scheel said. "The past several games we haven't been in that situation. To come out and show some fight right from the start was good.
 
"As this team continues to learn that if you back off and don't play with urgency throughout the entire game, things can change pretty quick."
 
Quincy came out in the second quarter with a full-court press that sped up the game for the Bearcats. Northwest got a couple of wide-open looks from three-point range, but the shots didn't fall like the first quarter when Northwest made four treys. The Bearcats went 0-for-5 behind the arc in the second quarter.
 
The Hawks didn't have problems knocking down shots in the second quarter, particularly Webster, who scored 12 of her 15 first-half points in the second quarter.
 
The long scoring drought by Northwest allowed Quincy to build a 33-19 lead. The Bearcats spent the rest of the second quarter trying overcome giving up 16 straight points.
 
That fight kept Northwest in striking distance despite Quincy shooting 57 percent from the field compared to 39 percent for the Bearcats.