PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Northwest Missouri State University women's basketball team dropped a 66-62 decision to the Pittsburg State University Gorillas Thursday night in MIAA action.
 
The Gorillas (14-9 overall, 9-8 MIAA) made eight of 11 field goals in the fourth quarter to hold off the Bearcats (15-8 overall, 10-7 MIAA).
 
Northwest jumped out to a 9-2 advantage in the opening three minutes of the contest. Freshman Kelsey Fields paced the offense in the first quarter with seven points. Northwest held an 18-16 lead after one quarter.
 
Northwest led by as many as seven in the second quarter at 24-17 with 7:20 to play. The Gorillas used a 9-2 run to knot the game at 26-26. Evelyn Vazquez knocked in a three-pointer for Northwest's only field goal in the final six minutes of the half. PSU closed the half on a 5-0 spurt.
 
The Bearcats led for the first 18 and half minutes of the game. However, the Gorillas took their first lead of the game with 1:28 to play in the opening half and took a 31-29 lead to the locker room.
 
Northwest struggled to find buckets in the third quarter as the Bearcats made just 1-of-10 from the field. Northwest was able to get to the line in the third and made 8-of-12 at the charity stripe. Pitt State was able to outscore Northwest in the third, 11-10, to take a 42-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
PSU opened up a six-point bulge at 49-43 with 6:34 to play. Northwest answered quickly with a 6-0 that consisted of a Peyton Kelderman three-pointer and a Molly Hartnett old-fashioned three-point play to level the contest at 49-49 with 5:59. Hartnett would knot it again at 51-51 with 5:03 to play.
 
The Gorillas would take the lead for good at 53-51 and eventually pushed the margin to seven at 60-53 with 1:35 remaining. Hartnett drained a triple with :13 left to cut the PSU lead to 62-60, but that would be as close as the Bearcats would get. PSU made six of its eight free throws in the final :25 to secure the 66-62 home win.
 
Northwest will finish its three-game road trip Saturday at Missouri Southern. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m. in Joplin, Mo.
 
NOTES: Peyton Kelderman made a three-pointer to extend her streak to 23 straight games with at least one three-pointer made … Kelsey Fields made her first three-pointer of her career in the first quarter … Northwest dropped its 10th straight matchup with the Gorillas in Pittsburg … Northwest is now 5-24 all-time in games played in Pittsburg … Molly Hartnett led Northwest in scoring with 13 points … Northwest had six players with at least seven points – Molly Hartnett (13), Mallory McConkey (9), Jayna Green (9), Peyton Kelderman (8), Kelsey Fields (8), Evelyn Vazquez (7) ... Northwest made 10-of-18 field goals in the fourth quarter ... the Bearcats were undone at the free throw line by making only 12-of-19 at the stripe ... Kelsey Fields grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
 
  Read Full Article