Northwest women's basketball starts exhibition play with two Division I opponents
Oct. 26—If you reside in Maryville, Missouri, or any surrounding town, the beginning of basketball season is a special moment. Northwest Missouri State fans have seen championship after championship from the men's basketball team, and an improved winning total from the women's team every full season since 2017.
The special occasion of Bearcat basketball returns and it's the women that will take the hardwood first with two exhibition matchups this week. The first will be against the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday. The Griffons will then face another Division I opponent from the Missouri Valley in the Drake Bulldogs on Oct. 30.
The last time the team faced an opponent was in the MIAA Quarterfinal, where they lost 52-47 against Nebraska-Kearney. This season, Northwest features zero seniors on its roster, meaning these two contests will be an opportunity to gain confidence against someone other than themselves.
"I think just kind of see where you're at, a measuring stick," head coach Austin Meyer said. "Obviously an SEC team, they're really good, but I think just having a game to get out and get a feel, play somebody else, we've been scrimmaging ourselves a lot. I think it'll be a good thing."
Despite having no seniors on the team, Northwest has built experience due to the COVID-19 eligibility rule. One athlete who has experience with Meyer and his team is nearing 100% healthy.
That athlete would be sophomore guard Emma Atwood. She only started four games in 2020 before a season-ending knee injury, and saw action in 23 contests last season, never going above 25 minutes.
For her, she's excited to showcase her true talents for the Northwest program.
"I'm really excited. I was obviously thankful to still be able to play last year, but it was frustrating at times not being 100%," Atwood said. "So yeah, just working back towards being full go... and when I'm not out there, just continuing to be a good teammate and support my teammates who are out there."
Facing two Division I programs could prove to be a tall task. For the Tigers, they have some recent success, including defeating No. 1 South Carolina last season. Missouri returns three of their top five scorers from last season, and are tabbed 10th in the SEC preseason poll for the upcoming season.
As for the Bulldogs, they qualified for the WNIT where they made it to the third round after defeating both Missouri and Northern Iowa. The Bulldogs averaged 73.4 points per game last season and finished seventh in their conference. Drake also returns their top-five leading scorers from last season.
While these two teams will most likely be the most talented the Bearcats face this season, they have familiar tendencies and skill sets as some MIAA teams.
"I think the biggest thing would be the size thing. You know, Fort Hays State is traditionally a team that has size across the board, so that's probably the big thing with them," Meyer said. "We have multiple teams that run motion within our league, and Drake runs really good half court motion. It's fast, a lot of screens, and a lot of actions."
As an athlete, these types of moments are not only huge in testing skill sets, but also bringing forth life-lasting memories. These two matchups will be no different and should help propel Northwest to where they want to go.
"I think it's really fun. Usually the arenas are different, bigger, and it's exciting to play in those, and then the crowds that they'll bring in, the atmosphere will be great," Atwood said. "You really get to see what we need to work on, and I feel like they'll expose the holes and gaps that we need to fill in, so that's important to play these games and see that."
Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.
