---

Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State women came up just short Wednesday night, falling to Missouri Southern, 60-59.
- The Bearcats are now 6-13 overall and 2-8 in the MIAA, while the Lions improved their record to 12-5 and 6-3.
- Ariel Easton led all scorers with 27 points, a new career-high in a conference game.

Northwest Highlights
- The Bearcats opened the contest on fire, hitting six of their first eight shots. They finished the first half shooting 50 percent (13-of-26).
- Northwest finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field (24-for-53).
- Easton scored her 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting. The senior corralled nine rebounds and made two steals.
- Junior guard Tember Schechinger recorded her second double-double of the season, accumulating 10 points and 10 rebounds.
- Freshman forward Tanya Meyer came off the bench to score eight points and grab three boards.
- Making her sixth start of the year, freshman guard Alexa Schaaf hit both of her shots in the game to score five points.
- As a team, the Bearcats came away with 33 rebounds in the contest, including 12 on the offensive end that led to 15 second chance points.
- Northwest scored 32 points in the paint, while holding the Lions to just 18 points down low.
- The Bearcats led for over 37 minutes in the contest.

Key Sequence
- After Missouri Southern scored 11 straight points midway through the second half, Taylor Shull drained a 18-foot jump shot to give the Bearcats a 55-52 advantage. Ariel Easton hit a 10-foot jumper to push the lead to five points. The Lions proceeded to take their first lead since the first three minutes of the game when Kenya Brown knocked down a trey with 1:57 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Easton drove into the lane and hit a layup to put the Bearcats back on top, 59-58. Tember Schechinger blocked a shot on the defensive end, but Northwest was unable to capitalize on offense. Nicole Hartzog made two free throws with 28 seconds left for the final points of the contest.

Up Next
- The Bearcats will take the weekend off and return to action next Thursday (Jan. 28) when they host the Lindenwood Lions. The women's game will begin at 5:30 followed by the men's game at 7:30.