The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team dropped a 75-59 decision against Missouri Western Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph, Mo.
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Northwest is now 13-13 overall and 8-12 in MIAA play. The Griffons improve to 23-5 overall and 17-3 in conference play.
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With the Bearcats down 12-6,
Lindsey Kelderman nailed a three just before the media timeout at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter. The 'Cats found themselves down six once again, this time
Peyton Kelderman had the answer from deep to bring Northwest to within three at 15-12.
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After the first quarter, Missouri Western led 18-12.
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Emma Atwood ended an 11-0 run by the Griffons with a jumper from the wing with 2:42 to go in the half.
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At halftime, Missouri Western led Northwest, 39-20. The Griffons shot 59.3% from the field in the half and 66.7% from beyond the three-point line.
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Northwest started to battle back in the third quarter as the Griffon lead was cut to 13 after a step back three from
Molly Hartnett. Missouri Western responded quickly and extended the lead to 17 at the end of the third.
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The Bearcats outscored Missouri Western 21-19 in the third, but still trailed 58-41 heading into the fourth.
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Northwest outscored Missouri Western by one in the fourth quarter, but the Griffons got the 75-59 victory.
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Molly Hartnett led all scorers with 19 points. She added eight rebounds and a team-high three assists, two steals, and one block. Hartnett also became the 29
th Bearcat to score 1,000 career points.
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Emma Atwood and
Caely Kesten both tallied ten points. Atwood tied a team-high with nine rebounds.
Kelsey Fields also grabbed nine boards and recorded four points.
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Both squads grabbed 39 rebounds in the contest. Northwest was 25-of-66 from the field and connected on five three-pointers, all of which came from different Bearcats. Missouri Western shot 53.4% from the field and 46.7% from beyond the arc.
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The 'Cats return home next week with their two final games of the regular season. They will face Central Oklahoma Thursday and Missouri Southern Saturday.
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