JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Northwest Missouri State University women's basketball team (22-6 overall, 16-6 MIAA) finished off the regular season with a 69-62 win inside the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center. 

Kelsey Fields secured her ninth career double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Jayna Green poured on 18 points, along with Caely Kesten's 15 points and four assists. 

Missouri Southern (20-8 overall, 16-6 MIAA) was led by Brandi Hudson's 17 points. 

Northwest scored on its first three possessions of the game to take an early 6-3 lead with 7:32 to go in the first. Peyton Kelderman then buried a triple just before the media timeout to give the 'Cats a 13-7 advantage. Efficient shooting from Northwest, as the Bearcats shot 8-of-10 from the field to lead 22-17 at the end of the first quarter. 

Kesten gave Northwest its largest lead of the game of 14, with a three-pointer from the top of the key. The Bearcats outscored the Lions, 19-10 in the second quarter to take a 41-27 advantage to end the first half. Jayna Green had a game-high 14 points in the first half, while knocking down two shots behind the arc. Northwest shot lights out, going 16-of-24 from the field (66.7 percent), also forcing eight Lion turnovers. 

Missouri Southern cut the Northwest lead down to eight with 2:53 to go in the third. Low-scoring third quarter for both teams still had Northwest leading 47-37 with one quarter to play. Northwest held Missouri Southern to 1-of-9 shooting in just over six minutes in the quarter. 

Late in the fourth, Missouri Southern pulled within three with 40 seconds to play. Molly Hartnett scored her first points of the game with a pair of crucial free throws with 30 seconds to play. 
More free-throws down the stretch completed the season sweep of the Missouri Southern State Lions with a 69-62 win in Joplin, Mo. 

Northwest never trailed and shot a season-best 26-of-44 (59.1%)  from the field. The Bearcats knocked down 5-of-13 (38.5%) of their shots behind the arc. 

With six points in today's game, Molly Hartnett has passed Kelly Weintz (1985-88) in total career points. Hartnett now reaches the top 10 in program history with 1,405 points.

Next up, the Bearcats will travel down to Kansas City, Mo. for the 2024 MIAA Tournament inside Municipal Auditorium.