The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team battled No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney for 40 minutes but came up short in the final seconds as the Bearcats fell 66-65.
 
The Bearcats drop to 10-9 overall and 5-8 in conference play.
 
The Bearcats got out to an early 9-4 start against UNK while forcing three early turnovers for the Lopers. Northwest held UNK to just 2-of-9 shooting from the field at the first media timeout.
 
The Bearcat defense held Kearney scoreless in the first quarter from the 7:50 mark until there was 2:46 left in the quarter. Northwest finished the quarter on 6-3 run to take an eight point lead. At the end of the first quarter, Northwest led UNK 15-7. The Lopers have been held to as low as seven points in the first quarter just one other time this season.
 
Northwest started off hot going 7-of-12 from the field while holding UNK to just 3-of-13 from the field.
 
In the second quarter, the Lopers started to find their touch offensively as they closed in on the Northwest lead. The Bearcats found a way to keep the lead the entire quarter despite Kearney tying things up at 22-22.
 
At the half, Northwest led 30-28. Ella Moody and Molly Hartnett each had a team-high eight points in the half. Six Bearcats scored in the first twenty minutes of play.
 
Northwest shot 52.4% from the field in the first half and outscored UNK in the paint with 18 of the teams 30 points coming in the paint. Northwest led Kearney in rebounds by one.
 
The Bearcats did not attempt a three-pointer in the half while holding the Lopers to 1-of-10 from deep.
 
UNK took a 38-36 lead at the 6:10 mark of the third quarter. This was the Lopers first lead since the first minute of the game when they led 2-0.
 
Minutes later Ella Moody scored a tough and-one and converted the three-point play with a free throw to give Northwest the lead once again at 45-44.
 
After three quarters down, the Bearcats led Kearney 48-46. Both teams tallied 18 points in the third, but Northwest shot nearly 14% better from the field than UNK did in the quarter.
 
Kearney called an early timeout in the fourth quarter after Northwest scored two quick buckets. UNK had the best defense in the MIAA coming into the contest as opponents averaged just 50.0 points per game. Northwest had scored 52 points with 8:30 left in the game.
 
UNK took its largest lead of the game at 63-56 with 4:23 to play. Ella Moody responded with a layup and Emma Atwood connected on two free throws to bring it back to a one possession game at 63-60.
 
With 1:51 to go, Ella Moody recorded a career-high with her 19^th point of the night to bring the UNK lead down to one, 63-62.
 
UNK went up 65-62 but Jayna Green came up huge on offense with an and-one bucket and the free throw to tie the game at 65-65 with :26 to play.
 
The Lopers drew a shooting foul but only connected on one free throw to give the Bearcats a shot at the win with :04 left in the game. Northwest used a timeout to advance the ball and got a look from three but could not get it to fall.
 
UNK escapes with a 66-65 win over Northwest.
 
Ella Moody led all scorers with a career-high 19 points as well as a career-high eight made field goals. Molly Hartnett added 15 points and a team-high four assists. Kelsey Fields grabbed 10 rebounds and tallied eight points.
 
Northwest shot a season-high 54.3% from the field going 25-for-46. The Bearcats outrebounded Kearney by nine. Northwest finished with 46 points in the paint compared to the Lopers 30 points in the paint.
 
Northwest did not make a three-pointer in the game which marks the first time since Feb. 4, 2015, when the Bearcats went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc against Missouri Western. In tonight's game Northwest was 0-for-2.
 
Northwest turns around to play against Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan., Saturday at 2:00 p.m.