Cold shooting woes: Despite making 17 steals, Wildcats women lose opener 56-35
Despite making 17 steals, Wildcats women lose opener 56-35
Trending
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. -- Cold shooting doomed the women's basketball team at Northern Michigan University to a rough start to its season on Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats lost 56-35 to nationally ranked Central Missouri to open three days of play at the Midwest Tip-Off Challenge sponsored by the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association.
Competing at the Justagame Fieldhouse along with about a dozen other women's and men's teams, including the NMU men, Northern fell behind from the start despite making 17 steals and causing 25 Jennies' turnovers.
The Wildcats shot just 22.2% from the field, 14 of 63, including 15.4% on 3-pointers, 2 of 13.
No NMU player scored in double figures, freshman Alli Jirsa leading the way with eight points off the bench as she shot relatively well, 3 of 8 from the field and 2 of 2 on free throws.
Preseason GLIAC First Team pick and junior Sydney Whitehouse added seven points, hitting 3 of 10 shots and 1 of 2 free throws, while Northern's lone 3-point maker, junior Ava Bates, pumped in six points as she was 2 of 2 on those long-range attempts, her only shots as she played just nine minutes.
Freshman Teagan Schoenecker also had six points, hitting 2 of 6 shots and 2 of 2 free throws.
Schoenecker contributed mightily to Central Missouri's turnover troubles, making by far a game high of seven steals, adding in three rebounds.
Junior Jordyn Schmittdiel led Northern rebounders with eight, while Whitehouse was tops in assists with three.
The Jennies were led by Taylor Weishaar with 17 points and Jayla Griffith with 16, the latter making 4 of 5 triples.
Mostly coming from Whitehouse, NMU starters scored just 11 points as the Jennies had 37.
While the Wildcats had nearly a dozen less turnovers than their opponent, 14, they were outrebounded handily, 48-31, and they also committed more than twice as many fouls, 19-9.
Central Missouri, ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division II, also shot quite a bit better, making 41.7% from the field (20 of 48) that included 38.9% on 3s (7 of 18).
The Jennies jumped out to a 10-2 lead less than four minutes in, but Northern followed with its own 10-2 run to tie it 12-12 on a Schoenecker fastbreak layup that followed one of her steals with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
But Central Missouri scored the next nine points on a trio of triples by three players and held a 21-14 lead at the end of the period.
The Jennies' lead reached double digits about a minute into quarter No. 2 and stayed there, including 30-18 at halftime.
And Central Missouri used a late 8-0 burst to build its advantage to 43-22 by the end of the third.
The Wildcats finally whittled their deficit to less than 20 points in the final three minutes, getting as close as 16, 51-35, with 2:23 left on a pair of Schoenecker free throws.
NMU returns to the Justagame floor for a game against Truman State (Missouri) at 2:30 p.m. EDT today, then closes action there with a contest against No. 7 Minnesota State-Mankato at 2:30 p.m. EST Sunday.
Central Mo. 56, NMU 35
Friday at Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)
NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- Whitehouse 3-1-7, Schmittdiel 1-0-2, Showen 1-0-2, Jirsa 3-2-8, Schoenecker 2-2-6, Bates 2-0-6, Walder 2-0-4. Totals 14-5-35.
CENTRAL MISSOURI -- Weishaar 6-4-17, Heim 5-0-11, Schaaf 1-3-5, Farmer 1-0-3, Vierthaler 0-1-1, Griffith 6-0-16, Becker 1-0-2, Woods 0-1-1. Totals 20-9-56.
Score by quarters:
Northern Michigan 14 4 4 13 -- 35
Central Missouri 21 9 13 13 -- 56
FG shooting: NMU 14 of 63 (22.2 percent), Central Missouri 20 of 48 (41.7 percent); 3-point shooting: NMU 2 of 13 (15.4 percent), Central Missouri 7 of 18 (38.9 percent); FT shooting: NMU 5 of 8 (62.5 percent), Central Missouri 9 of 16 (56.3 percent); Rebounding, NMU 31 (Jordyn Schmittdiel 8), Central Missouri 48 (Hayden Heim 11); Assists, NMU 6 (Sydney Whitehouse 3), Central Missouri 12 (Enola Papin 3); Steals, NMU 17 (Teagan Schoenecker 7), Central Missouri 10 (Taylor Weishaar and Holly Woods 3 each); Turnovers, NMU 14, Central Missouri 25.
Story contents based on a
Northern Michigan University's Jordyn Schmittdiel, right, is fouled going up for a shot during a GLIAC game played against Purdue Northwest at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 22. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)