Shelly Martin and Gabby Curtis scored 19 points each to lead Northwest Missouri State to a 78-65 win against Cal Poly Pomona Tuesday in an NCAA national quarterfinal game at Civic Arena.
Coach Steinmeyer and Martin on the win
The Bearcats (29-4) advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history and will take on third-ranked Michigan Tech (29-2) Wednesday at 8 p.m. Michigan Tech defeated top-seeded Arkansas Tech 69-58 Tuesday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and online at ESPN3.com. Clayton State and Shaw meet in the other national semifinal at 6 p.m.
Kyla Roehrig scored 15 points and Gentry Dietz added a double-double – 16 points and 12 rebounds – for the Bearcats. Northwest shot 57 percent from the field and never trailed.
Sarah Semenero scored all 19 of her points in the second half to lead Cal Poly Pomona (28-5), which lost for the first time in nine games. Reyana Colson scored 15 points and Megan Ford had 14 for the Broncos.
Martin hit four 3-pointers in the game’s first nine minutes and scored 14 first-half points to lead Northwest to a 39-22 halftime lead. Martin made the first five shots she took and finished 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Cal Poly Pomona scored the first 11 points of the second half and drew within five, 41-36, following a trey by Semenero less than four minutes into the stanza. Semenero was 7-for-9 in the second half after missing all four first-half attempts.
Roehrig stopped the run with a bucket inside and Dietz added a three-point play to push the lead back to double-digits. Deitz, a 57 percent free-throw shooter, made all eight attempts Tuesday.
The Broncos’ final run drew them within six, 68-62, following two free throws by Colson with 2:32 remaining. Northwest scored 10 of the game’s final 13 points including eight points from the charity stripe. The Bearcats were 20-of-38 from the line while the Broncos were 9-of-18.
