Northwest Mo. St. NMSU 17-12,12-10 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Neb.-Kearney UNK 23-6,17-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Northwest Mo. St. NMSU

17-12,12-10 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Final

Mar. 04, 2022

Neb.-Kearney UNK

23-6,17-5 Mid-America Intercollegiate

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Northwest Mo. St. NMSU	2	11	14	20	47
Neb.-Kearney UNK	13	13	18	8	52

Summary
Box Score

Matthew Hicks/MSH Photography

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/4/2022 5:50:00 PM

Survive & Advance ... Lopers Edge the Bearcats

Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball team got out to an 11-0 lead and had six score between six and 10 points to hold off Northwest Missouri State, 52-47, Friday afternoon at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.

The third-seeded Lopers (23-6) advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals where they'll take on archrival and second-seeded Fort Hays State. The nationally-ranked Tigers (26-3) slipped past seventh-seed Central Oklahoma, 71-63, Thursday afternoon. The season series was split between the two, each winning on the road. The game tips at 2:15 p.m.

"It's kind of what we thought might happen. As things went along this season, we realized we'd probably see Hays again. This time it's in the second round," said Loper head coach Carrie Eighmey. "They are a great team and have really good depth. We look forward to the opportunity to play them and I think it brings out the best in both teams." 2022 MIAA Basketball Championships, Kasnas City, Mo.

2022 MIAA Basketball Championships, Kasnas City, Mo.

UNK has now won six in a row over the Bearcats (17-13) but needed to hang on after leading 11-0 eight minutes in and by a 44-27 margin entering the fourth. Northwest, behind a game-high 26 points from guard Molly Hartnett, started the fourth on their own 11-0 run and took the quarter by a 20-8 margin. However, the Lopers hit six free throws and got a key layup from veteran guard Haley Simental (Pueblo West, Colo.) at the 2:22 mark to record its fourth straight MIAA Tourney win. That was UNK's lone field goal of the quarter.

"I thought defensively, for the entire game, we played pretty well. In the fourth they scored 20 points, hit a couple of shots and kind of were going at us in the paint because they knew Klaire (Kirsch) had four fouls," said Eighmey. "She was trying to defend (Hartnett) without fouling which is tricky. But we held them to 13 first-half points and that was huge for us."

Guard Trinity Law (Brandon, SD) tallied a team-best 10 points, post Brooke Carlson (Elkhorn) had seven rebounds, six points and three assists, wing Klaire Kirsch (Rapid City, SD) had a game-high 11 rebounds with Simental and forwards Shiloh McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.) and Elisa Backes (Salina, Kan.) all scoring nine apiece. Finally, reserve guard Sarah Schmitt (Swisher, Ia.) had seven points in 17 minutes.

"Offensively we were good in the first half and in the third quarter but kind of stalled out in the fourth. Our possessions got a little stagnant and just missed some shots," said Eighmey. "Northwest is a great team. They are well coached and tough. We knew they weren't just going to layover and quit when they were down. We expected another push from them."

UNK's staunch defense limited Northwest to just 13 first half points as the 'Cats went 6 of 24 (1 for 8) from the field. However, thanks to some foul trouble on Kirsch, Hartnett got going in the second half to the tune of 17 points. Northwest also hit three triples after the break with the Lopers building a 19-point lead, 37-18, midway through the third before the 'Cats hung around and then made a big move.

"They got some momentum when they hit a couple of threes and it was a ball game from there," said Eighmey.

A Hartnett bucket with 2:46 remaining made it 47-43. UNK missed two threes on its next possession but Hartnett missed a shot in the lane as well. McCool made one of two freebies before Northwest turned to Hartnett again and this time she made another one, making it a 48-45 with 47 ticks left. That's when UNK turned to Simental who drove down the left side of the lane and saw the ball roll in for a two-possession lead. Harnett scored again but Backes made two free throws to finish the scoring.

"Having just played them last week, the game plan was fresh in our players minds. We knew what the scout was, what Northwest tries to do and what their players like to do," said Eighmey. "That was helpful and we had a couple of extra days to really lock in on what we wanted to do defensively."

An honorable mention All-MIAA pick averaging 11 points on the season, Hartnett finished 10 of 20 (3 of 8 threes) from the field and 3 of 3 at the line. The rest of NW was 9 of 36 from the field. Hartnett also supplied two assists, two defensive rebounds and a steal.

UNK is now 6-7 all-time in the MIAA Tournament with Kirsch needing only three more rebounds to break the school-record of 906, set by forward Heather Steffen (2001-04).

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