The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team dropped a 50-49 decision at Fort Hays State Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bearcats are now 10-10 overall and 5-9 in MIAA action.
 
After one quarter, Fort Hays had a 10 point advantage over Northwest as they led 16-6. The Bearcats struggled to get things going in the quarter connecting on just two field goals that were both three-pointers.
 
Despite Hays extending its lead to 13 points during the second quarter, the 'Cats drained three straight three pointers late in the half to bring them to within four points. Northwest closed out the first half on a 9-2 run with Evelyn Vazquez knocking down two triples and Caely Kesten hitting one of her own.
 
At the break, FHSU led Northwest 25-19. Northwest outscored Hays 13-9 in the second quarter.
 
Vazquez and Kesten each had a team-high six points in the first half as they both went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
 
Northwest was 6-of-26 from the field in the half but remained in the game as five of the six made field goals were three-pointers. The Bearcats shot 5-of-10 from three and held the Tigers to just one made three-pointer in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
With just under nine minutes to go in the third, Hays had built its lead back up to 10. Caely Kesten subbed in and immediately drained back-to-back three's to once again bring the Tiger lead back to four points. The three-pointers were Kesten's third and fourth threes of the day as she was 4-for-4 from downtown.
 
Emma Atwood built off Kesten's run as she knocked in her first bucket of the game with 4:43 left in the third quarter to bring the lead down to two points. The Bearcats trailed 31-29 after the Atwood layup. Northwest had not been within two points since the 7:31 mark of the first quarter.
 
Caely Kesten continued her sizzling hot shooting day as she closed out the third quarter with yet another three. FHSU led 35-32 after three quarters.
 
Kesten's five three pointers set a new career-high in both three-pointers made in a game as well as points in a game. Kesten was 5-for-5 from beyond the arc with a game-high 15 points heading into the final quarter.
 
Northwest got to within one point after Molly Hartnett opened up the fourth quarter with a basket. The 'Cats trailed 35-34 with 9:27 to play.
 
Northwest kept things close the entire quarter but could not manage to regain the lead. Jayna Green hit a three pointer at the buzzer to bring the final score to 50-49 in favor of Fort Hays.
 
The Tigers have been held to 50 points or less just one other time season when they were held to 45 points Nov. 6.
 
Caely Kesten led Northwest with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Kelsey Fields had her third straight double digit rebounding game as she had 11 boards and a team-high three steals. Molly Hartnett added 11 points and Peyton Kelderman tied a career-high with five assists.
 
Northwest outscored Fort Hays in the second, third, and fourth quarters of the game. The Bearcats outscored the Tigers by four in the second quarter, three in the third, and two in the fourth.
 
The 'Cats shot a season high 47.6% from three as they connected on 10-of-21 attempts. Both Northwest and Hays recorded 41 rebounds and shot just over 31% from the field in the game. The Bearcats had 26 bench points compared to the Tigers 17.
 
In each of Northwest's last three losses, they have all been by just one point.
 
Northwest returns home next week as Emporia State and Washburn make a visit to Bearcat Arena.