The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team improved to 4-1 after defeating the Peru State Bobcats, 75-61.

Northwest held a 20-16 lead over Peru State after 10 minutes of action. The first quarter had seven lead changes between the teams. The Bearcats knocked down 8-of-14 shot attempts while the Bobcats sank 6-of-13 attempts.

Heading into halftime, Northwest increased its lead to 45-22. Evelyn Vazquez stuffed the first-half stat sheet with five steals, four assists, two rebounds, and two points. Lauren Gillig provided a spark off the bench as she drained 3-of-4 three-point attempts for nine first-half points. Molly Hartnett led Northwest with 11 points to go along with five assists. Jillian Fleming was a perfect 2-of-2 from downtown giving her six points at the break.

Northwest shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes of action and were 6-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Bearcats had 21 bench points in the half.

After three quarters of action, Northwest led 66-48. Emma Atwood tallied seven points in the quarter to give her 10 total points along with four rebounds.

After forty minutes of action, Northwest recorded a 75-61 victory over Peru State. The Bearcats shot 29-of-65 from the field for 44.6 percent. Northwest forced 18 turnovers against the Bobcats and had 17 points off of the turnovers.

Molly Hartnett had a team-high 14 points as well as a team-high seven assists. Emma Atwood finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Kelsey Fields finished with a team-high 9 rebounds and added six points.

Northwest begins conference play Thursday, December 1, at Missouri Southern. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Joplin, Mo.