The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team defeated the Central Oklahoma Bronchos for its fourth straight win in Edmond, 72-82.
 
Northwest improves to 8-7 overall and 3-6 in MIAA action.
 
Ella Moody ended a 6-0 opening run for the Bronchos with a right handed layup. Moments later Lindsey Kelderman drained a three to bring Northwest to within one and followed up the next possession with another deep three. After a Molly Hartnett layup, the Bearcats had gone on a 10-0 run of their own as they led 10-6.
 
At the end of the first quarter, Northwest led 22-17. Seven Bearcats scored in the first quarter. Northwest's 22 first quarter points are the most points the Bearcats have scored in a first quarter so far this season.
 
Northwest led the Bronchos until the 3:07 mark in the second quarter when UCO took a 31-29 lead. With :30 to play in the first half, Lindsey Kelderman knocked down her third three-pointer of the game. Central Oklahoma tied things up on its next possession, but Northwest got the ball back with :09 to play and Molly Hartnett went coast to coast for a layup to give the Bearcats a 38-36 halftime lead.
 
In the first half, Molly Hartnett led Northwest with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Lindsey Kelderman added nine points as she connected on 3-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc. Emma Atwood had a game-high six rebounds in the first twenty minutes of action, with four of her six boards coming on the offensive end.
 
Northwest shot 50% from the field in the first half as they hit 16-of-32 shot attempts.
 
The third quarter had numerous lead changes and just as the Bearcat fell behind by five points late in the quarter, Ella Moody made a layup and Lindsey Kelderman followed it up with yet another triple to knot things up at 51. After three quarters, UCO and Northwest were tied up at 53-53.
 
It was close for the entire fourth quarter. The Bronchos and Bearcats were tied up at 62-62 with 1:43 to play in the game. After that, Northwest went on a 6-0 run as they led 68-62 with :28 to play. UCO then knocked down a bucket to bring them to within four points with :20 remaining. From then on the Bronchos played the foul game, but the Bearcats did not miss any of their free throws in the final minute of play.
 
Northwest defeated UCO by a score of 72-68.
 
Emma Atwood stuffed the stat sheet with 11 rebounds, five points, four assists, two steals, and a block. Atwood set a new career-high with 11 rebounds.
 
Molly Hartnett had a team-high 17 points and went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Kelsey Fields had 15 points followed by Lindsey Kelderman who recorded a career-high 14 points. Kelderman also had a career-high with four made three-pointers as she was 4-of-7 from deep. Lauren Eiman tied her career-high with seven points on the night.
 
Northwest shot 44.3% from the field and outrebounded the Bronchos in the win. The Bearcats won the battle of turnovers, bench points, points off turnovers, and points in the paint.
The Bearcats are back in action Saturday, Jan. 14, as they take on Newman in Wichita, Kansas at 1:30 p.m.