The Lady Cougars stormed onto the court on Tuesday night as they prepared to play Smithville High School. The girls’ outside shooting got them rolling in the first half as senior Jessica Johnson hit a three pointer for the first points of the game for Northwest. Senior Katie Biggers knocked down two first half threes to give the girls the momentum and a big lead.

The rest of the first half was physical as sophomore Mckayla Ross scored 11 first half points. Ross played a strong inside game as she made all her field goals in the paint. Despite committing nine first half fouls the Lady Cougars finished the half with a strong defensive performance and a half time lead of 27-14.

In the second half, the girls were forced to start out a little slower due to Ross and Johnson being in foul trouble. This allowed the defense to let up a little more and it also allowed Smithville to put up more shots. The Lady Cougar lead was trimmed down to nine points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but a second half scoring surge from senior Sarah Schmidt gave the girls what they needed to get the job done.

The final score was 53-38 with Northwest getting a solid victory. Ross led all scorers with 15 points and Schmidt followed her with 11. The girls also had a lot of help down low from Schmidt and sophomore Mia Woodward, who led the team in rebounding. With this win the girls are staying strong as they improve to 2-0 in the early season.