Kearney, Neb. – Senior guard Kelsey Sanger scored 10 points and sophomore reserve guard Trinity Law was big in the fourth quarter to help No. 14 Nebraska-Kearney hold off Northwest Missouri State, 53-50, Thursday night in Maryville.
The Lopers improve to 18-3, move to 9-1 on the road and sweep the season series from the Bearcats (8-13). The win also puts a dent into Northwest’s postseason hopes.
UNK led for the last 2.5 quarters but could never pull away from a ‘Cats team fighting for its postseason life. Like the Lopers, Northwest is one of the top defensive units in the MIAA and its grind-it-out offensive style keeps the score low.
”They are one of the top five defensive teams in the MIAA (allowing 60 ppg) and then they came out with a unique lineup. I think that stunned us a little bit,” UNK assistant coach Devin Eighmey said on the KRVN radio post-game. “We were able to make some adjustments and able to take a six-point lead into the half. We had a chance to extend the lead in the third but they battled back.”
The Lopers led 32-22 early in the second half and then was up nine, 37-28, with just 1:10 left in the third. However, Northwest went on a 10-4 run over the six minutes to make it a one possession game. The patient ‘Cats finished the night 6 of 22 from behind the three-point line but was 13 of 27 (48%) inside the arc.
“They are a gritty team that will defend you at a high level. We only had 52 shot attempts,” Eighmey said. “The uniqueness about this league is everyone is good. Our 14th team is good when you compare them to other Division II leagues. We knew it was going to be tough.”
Law (Brandon, S.D.), having eight points, drawing four fouls, and grabbing two boards in the fourth, sunk two free throws to push the lead back to five. UNK followed with a stop and then junior reserve Elisa Backes (Salina, Kan.) hit a shot in the lane to make it 45-38 at the 4:26 mark.
Northwest had one more run in them as senior reserve Mia Stillman hit two threes down the stretch to make it 51-48 with only 1:03 remaining. UNK ran down the ensuing shot clock with Backes missing a contested elbow jumper. But the ‘Cats couldn’t take advantage, seeing a layup from senior guard Mallory McConkey clank off the rim with 14 seconds left. At that point Northwest had to foul several times to send UNK to the line.
Getting 23 bench points, the Lopers were also plus eight on the glass and committed just eight turnovers. Sanger (Crofton) helped erase a 12-6 first quarter deficit by scoring eight of her 10 points in the second. They included a put back three-point play and a transition three from the right wing. Next, Law finished with nine on 5 of 6 free throw shooting with Backes (10) reaching double digits for a fifth straight game. Finally, junior wing Klaire Kirsch (Rapid City, S.D.) had 13 rebounds, five points, two assists, and two steals in playing nearly 36 minutes.
“We had some players step up tonight. Trinity was good off the bench and gave us some explosiveness. She was a key in the second half,” Eighmey said. “Those free throws she hit late were clutch, clutch, clutch.”
Freshman Molly Hartnett, held to a 2 of 21 shooting night in the loss to UNK back in January, rebounded to score a team-high 19. She made 7 of 14 shots and went 4 of 4 at the line. McConkey (12) was the other ‘Cat in double figures.
UNK heads to Missouri Western State (6-15) on Saturday afternoon. The Griffons, playing a game for the second straight night, battled but lost to No. 5 Fort Hays State, 77-69, on Thursday.
Kearney, Neb. – The top-ranked and defending national champion Northwest Missouri State Bearcats hit 10 of its first 12 shots and never looked back en route to a 95-59 win over Nebraska-Kearney Thursday night in Maryville.
Northwest (20-1) is now 151-7 since the start of the 2016-17 season. The Bearcats won NCAA Division II national titles in 2017 and 2019 and were among the 2020 favoritesbefore the national tourney was canceled last March due to the pandemic.
“They are the number one team in the nation for a reason. They are gearing up for the postseason and trying to make up for a team that probably should’ve won it last year. They want to make sure they get it done this year,” UNK head coach Kevin Lofton said on the KRVN radio post-game show.
Securing an eighth straight MIAA regular season title, the ‘Cats zoomed out to a 23-6 lead seven minutes in. The ended the night shooting a ridiculous 68 percent (40 of 59) from the field which included 6 of 11 efforts from the three-point line in each half. Northwest also was plus 10 on the glass and took advantage of 18 Loper turnovers.
Junior guard Diego Bernard, who didn’t play in the ‘Cats 73-63 win over UNK (8-13) in January, led the way. He had a team-high 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block in just 27 minutes.
“Diego makes a big difference for them. They didn’t have him at our place and Myles (Arnold) was able to have a lot of success (23 points). They didn’t have that lock down defender … that athletic, strong tough bulldog guy to put on him. And that had that tonight,” Lofton said. “Diego also shot it really well (9 of 13).”
Utah junior forward Darrian Nebeker continued his fine play, having 12 points on 4 of 4 field goal and 4 of 5 free throw shooting. He also had four rebounds with New Zealand junior Matt Brien having all of his 11 points after the break. Nebeker has now been in double figures in six straight games, tied for the longest streak by a Loper this season with Brien reaching 10 points for a third straight contest.
“We had some bright spots. Darrian put together another really good game. He was the only offense we could find in the first half,” Lofton said. “It was nice to see Matt put together some nice stretches there in the second half. But scoring is a real struggle for us right now. Not having Jake (Walker) really hurts.”
Nine other ‘Cats scored besides Bernard including All-American candidates Ryan Hawkins and Trevor Hudgins who had 14 apiece. UNK got scoring from a total of 10 different players with Iowa redshirt sophomore Parker Badding and Kansas freshman T.J. Fritz sinking threes and Lincoln senior Sam Morris making two shots.
UNK heads to Missouri Western State on Saturday evening. The Griffons (12-9) were off tonight after beating Fort Hays State Tuesday in Kansas.
