The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team dropped a last second nail-biter to the No. 5 Central Missouri Jennies, 68-67.
 
Northwest drops to 9-8 overall and 4-7 in MIAA play.
 
The Bearcats got off to an impressive 8-0 start while forcing five early turnovers on the defensive end. It wasn't until the 5:24 mark of the first quarter that the Jennies scored their first bucket of the game.
 
The Bearcats had a four point advantage over UCM after one quarter as they led 18-14. Northwest shot 60% from three as they went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 5-of-12 from the field.
 
Four minutes into the second quarter, The Jennies tied things up at 22 apiece. Peyton Kelderman immediately responded on the other end with a three-pointer to put Northwest back on top and a couple trips later, she knocked down another deep three to give the Bearcats a six point cushion.
 
Northwest had its largest lead of the night as they led the UCM by 10 after an Ella Moody turn around jumper. The Jennies connected on a pair of free throws to bring the lead down to eight, but Lindsey Kelderman drained her second three-pointer of the night to put the 'Cats up 11 at 37-26 with a minute and a half to go in the second quarter.
 
At the end of the half, Northwest led UCM 37-30.
 
Peyton Kelderman led the Bearcats with eight first half points. Both Lindsey and Peyton Kelderman went 2-of-3 from three point land. Jayna Green was very solid on the defensive end of the court blocking 4 shots in the first twenty minutes of play.
 
Jillian Fleming and Caely Kesten were each a perfect 1-for-1 from three in the half as Northwest went 6-of-9 from deep (66.7%) and 13-of-28 from the field (46.4%). The Bearcats forced eight UCM turnovers and only had two of their own.
 
Lindsey Kelderman got Northwest rolling in the second half with her third three of the night. UCM got hot from the field as they knocked down 6-of-7 shots to open the half to close in on the Northwest lead.
 
At the third quarter media timeout, Northwest and UCM were tied up at 46-46.
 
The Jennies took their first lead of the night at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter after connecting on two free throws. Molly Hartnett responded on the next possession with a three-pointer to put the 'Cats back up one. It was back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, but Northwest held onto a 54-52 lead after three quarters of play.
 
Northwest had not trailed the Jennies since the 2:21 mark of the third quarter until UCM made a layup with :55 to play in the game to take a 65-64 lead.
 
With :23 to go, Peyton Kelderman nailed her fifth three-pointer of the night to tie things back up at 67-67.
 
UCM drew a shooting foul with just under one second to play to send the Jennies to the line for two shots. After missing the first free throw, UCM made the second to take a 68-67 lead with .6 seconds left to play.
 
Northwest used a timeout to advance the ball to get one last look for the win but were unable to connect.
 
The Bearcats dropped a hard fought effort against No. 5 Central Missouri, 68-67.
 
Peyton Kelderman led Northwest in scoring with a career-high 17 points going 5-of-8 from three with four rebounds. Molly Hartnett added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and three assists. Lindsey Kelderman and Ella Moody both recorded nine points. Jayna Green had all five of Northwest's blocks while tallying three steals and three assists.
 
The Bearcats had 29 bench points to the Jennies 10. Northwest forced 13 turnovers and had 11 points off the turnovers.
 
Northwest will be back in Bearcat Arena Saturday, Jan. 21, to take on Lincoln at 1:30 p.m.