KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team brushed aside the Newman Jets in the first round of the MIAA Tournament with a final score of 70-54.
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Northwest led from the 7:23 mark of the first quarter and never trailed again.
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The Bearcats came out strong as they outscored Newman 18-9 in the first quarter.
Lindsey Kelderman came in off the bench and put up seven early points.
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Northwest continued with its solid half outscoring the Jets 19-10 in the second quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 37-19 into the halftime break.
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Lindsey Kelderman tallied 12 first half points and was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Caely Kesten added six points on 3-of-4 shooting.
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Northwest shot 58.6% from the field in the half connecting on 17-of-29 shot attempts. The 'Cats held Newman to zero makes from three and 34.8% shooting from the field. Northwest had a one rebound advantage over the Jets in the first half.
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Newman started to get things going in the third quarter as the Jets scored 19 points in the quarter, but Northwest did not allow them to make a dent in the lead with the Bearcats also putting up 19 points.
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Northwest took its largest lead of the night with a
Caely Kesten three-pointer with 9:11 remaining in the game which gave the squad a 21-point advantage. Later in the quarter,
Peyton Kelderman made a layup that gave the 'Cats a 21-point lead once again to make the score 63-42 with 3:55 to go in the game.
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The Jets outscored Northwest by two points in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats secured a 70-54 win to advance to the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament.
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Northwest shot 48.3% from the field in the game and held Newman to 38.5% from the field. The Bearcats had 34 points in the paint.
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Caely Kesten led the team with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and two threes.
Lindsey Kelderman finished with 12 points, and
Emma Atwood had a 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
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With the win, Northwest moves on to face No. 1-seeded Nebraska-Kearney Thursday, March 2. Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.
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