Scouting Northwest Missouri

Northwest Missouri is 3-5 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play. The Bearcats has maybe one of the toughest starts to league play as they opened MIAA play against No. 1 Emporia State on Wednesday, followed by Saturday's game with the Gorillas. The team opened the season with No. 25 Northern State and No. 12 Wayne State. They also lost two games to William Jewell and Minnesota-Duluth in their home tournament. The team's three wins have come over Saint Mary (Neb.), Saint Mary (Kan.) and Rogers State. 

    The Bearcats average 60.2 points per game, just slightly higher than oppnents 59.8 ppg. The team outrebonds opponents by two, 37.9 to 35.9. Northwest shoots .413 from the floor, including .312 from three-point range. The team averages ust over 17 turnovers a game.

    Ariel Easton is the only Bearcat in double figures, with 18. 3 ppg. She also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game and in steals with 17. Easton has made a team-high 16 threes on the season and shoots .400 from long range. Tanya Meyer is the second leading scorer with 8.6 ppg. Tember Schechinger is the second leading rebounder with 5.0 rebounds per game. Shelby Mustain leads the team in blocks with eight on the season.

Scouting Pittsburg State

    The first nine games have been outstanding for the Gorillas, minus a smal hiccup last weekend against Rockhurst. The Gorillas have earned wins over then No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 7 Drury, as well as additional wins over central regional opponents, Bemidji State, Southwest Minnesota State, Minnesota-Duluth and Henderson State. These wins vaulted Pitt State to a No. 10 ranking in the first regular season poll of the season. The win over Drury pushed the Gorillas to No. 8, the highest ranking for a Lane Lord led Gorilla team.

    Pitt State averages 80.2 points per game, while holding opponents to 58.8 ppg. The Gorillas shoot almost .500 from the floor, at .481, while hitting .352 from long range. Pitt State outrebounds opponents 36.9 to 34.3. The Gorillas only average 12 turnovers a game, while opponents turn the ball over almost 19 times a game.

    First-team All-American Lizzy Jeronimus leads three Gorillas in double figures with 20.0 points per game, the second leading scorer in the MIAA by onlty .8. She has led the Gorillas in scoring in six of the first nine games. She pulls down 6.2 rebound sper game and leads the team in assists with 21. Kylie Gafford adds 13.4 points per game and leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game. The 6-2 junior also leads the team in blocks with  18 (2.0 per game) and shares the lead in steals with 13. She and Jeronimus are the team's lelading free throw shooter, with Gafford making 30-of-36 (.833), and Jeronimus making 46-of-56 (.821). Cathy Brugman adds 12.4 points per game. She has been the team's leading scorer twice this season. She adds 4.4 rpg and has blocked 13 shots. She is second in assists with 20.

    Mikaela Burgess comes off the bench to add 8.3 ppg for the Gorillas. She led the team with 19 in the first game of the season against No. 10 Concordia. She is the team's leading three-point shooter, Having made 13-of-31 (.419) on the season. She shares the lead in steals with Gafford. 

PSU vs. Northwest Missouri

Pitt State leads the series with Northwest Missouri 29-20. Each team leads on its home court, with Pitt State leading 17-5 in Pittsburg and the Bearcats lead 12-11 in Maryville. Northwest leads on neutral sites, 3-1.

    Pitt State has won each of the last five meetings between the two teams. Pitt State's 88-48 win in Pittsburg on Feb. 4, 2012 was the largest win of the series by either team.

    The Gorillas have the longest streak of wins in the series, having won seven straight games from Jan. 10, 1993 to Feb. 17, 1996. The Bearcats longest streak of wins was four games from Nov. 19, 1988 to Jan. 11, 1992 and from March 4, 2010 to March 5, 2011. 

    The most points scored in the series were the 106 points by the Gorillas on Feb. 8, 2010. The last outing between the two teams was the lowest scoring affair in series history, with Pitt State winning, 51-44, a total of only 96 points. 51 points in the lowest winning score in series history, while 44 points ties for the lowest losing score.

Nearing a Record

Lizzy Jeronimus is one of only six players in schoool history to grab more then 500 rebounds and score more than 1,000 points. She currently has 667 career rebounds which makes her for third on the all-time rebounding list. She needs two more to move to third and 39 to move to first. 

Up Next

Pitt State will take finals next week and then travel to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Malika Sports Tours Oahu Classic. There the Gorillas will take on BYU-Hawaii and Wingate. Both games will take place at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, December 16, and Wednesday, December 17.