The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team took its first loss of the season to Minnesota State, 71-46.
 
The Bearcats led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. Peyton Kelderman got off to a hot start as she went 2-for-2 from 3-point land and led Northwest in scoring with six points. Northwest forced seven first quarter MSU turnovers.
 
Heading into the half, Northwest led Minnesota State by one, 24-23. Peyton Kelderman drained her third three of the day at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter to give her nine points for the half. Jayna Green tallied five first half points to go along with six rebounds and two assists.
 
The Bearcats and Mavericks both struggled to shoot in the first 20 minutes of play. Northwest was 7-of-27 from the field and MSU was 9-of-28. Northwest led the rebounding battle with 24 to Minnesota State's 19. Seven of the Bearcats rebounds were on the offensive end.
 
MSU took a 30-29 lead at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter and did not trail for the remainder of the game. Jillian Fleming knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Bearcats within one point of MSU with three minutes left in the third, but the Mavericks went on an 8-1 scoring run to end the quarter.
 
The Mavericks outscored Northwest 21-13 in the third quarter while shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the field. Minnesota State led 44-37 heading into the fourth.
 
MSU continued its scoring run in the fourth quarter as they outscored Northwest 27-9 in the final 10 minutes of action. The Mavericks connected on 4-of-7 of their 3-point attempts and shot 8-of-16 from the field.
 
Peyton Kelderman led the team with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three. Jayna Green added 11 points, seven rebounds, and a team best four assists. Kelsey Fields grabbed 12 rebounds and tallied nine points. Jillian Fleming went 2-of-5 from beyond the arc to give her six points for the day along with a rebound and an assist.
 
Northwest returns home to play Peru State Sunday, November 27, at 1 p.m.