No. 2 Northwest tops Northeastern in MIAA opener; Bearcat women ride 5-game win streak
Dec. 3—MARYVILLE, Mo. — For the 11th-straight year, No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State won its MIAA opener with an 86-74 victory over Northeastern State Thursday at Bearcat Arena.
The Bearcats move to 7-1, while the RiverHawks are 5-2.
"I'm just happy, for the first 35 minutes I thought we played well," Northwest head coach Ben McCollum said. "Defensively I thought we were much better. Just a much better game overall for us today."
Northwest junior Trevor Hudgins finished with a game-high 26 points, surpassing Ryan Hawkins to move to second on Northwest's all-time scoring list behind Justin Pitts with 2,099 career points.
Northwest sophomore Wes Dreamer recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, while junior Diego Bernard had 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal.
"Both those guys play with so much energy and intensity," Hudgins said. "They're a pretty big part of our team and they just keep us moving."
The Bearcats controlled the tempo of the contest from the start, owning their biggest lead of 11 points in the half with less than five minutes until the break.
Northwest led 34-26 at the half behind Hudgins' 13 first-half points.
"We made some adjustments and read how they were guarding and found stuff that worked for us," Hudgins said.
The Bearcats opened up the second half with the same momentum, going on their best scoring run of the game behind 9 points with nine minutes remaining.
Northwest led for 38:46 of the game and built a lead as large as 26 in the second half.
The RiverHawks outscored the Bearcats 20-11 in the final five-plus minutes, but Northwest managed to hold on to win 86-74.
Northwest won the battle of the boards, 38-23, while Northeastern had only three offensive rebounds.
Northwest shot 51.6% from the floor and 8-of-27 from three.
Northwest returns to Bearcat Arena on Saturday to face Rogers State at 3:30 p.m.
Northwest Missouri Statewomen 75, Northeastern 55
The Northwest women's basketball team extended its win streak to five in a row with a 75-55 win Thursday at Bearcat Arena.
For the first time in 10 years, the Bearcat women have won five straight Division II games.
Northwest moves to 5-1 while the RiverHawks are 2-5.
"This team knows how to fight," Northwest sophomore Jayna Green said. "This win streak is really important to just keep it rolling and we have something to fight for, too."
Four Bearcats finished in double figures. Northwest freshman Molly Hartnett had a team-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
She was joined in double figures by freshman Peyton Kelderman (13 points), senior Mallory McConkey (13 points) and sophomore Paityn Rau (11 points).
Green added seven rebounds and five blocks to go along with five points and two assists.
Northwest jumped out to a 15-2 lead en route to taking a 19-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Bearcats led 34-21 at the break, draining 15-of-30 first-half shots from the floor.
Northwest kept the margin at 10 points through three quarters at 48-38.
Northeastern made a run in the fourth to get within 52-48 with less than seven minutes to go, but the Bearcats responded with a 23-7 run to close the game with a victory.
"We battled and had a really good fourth quarter so I was proud of the effort," Northwest head coach Austin Meyer said.
Northwest returns to Bearcat Arena on Saturday to face Rogers State at 1:30 p.m.
Micaela Dea can be reached at micaela.dea@newspressnow.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @NPNowDea
