HAYS, Kan. – The Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team (9-9-2-6 MIAA) faced a tough road defeat to the No. 7-ranked Fort Hays State Tigers, 84-60, at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Caely Kesten stretched her double-digit scoring to six games with a 17-point effort.
Molly Hartnett contributed 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Kelsey Fields added nine points, six boards and a block.
Kesten wasted no time, scoring Northwest's first eight points of the contest. The Bearcats jumped out to a 15-12 lead after a
Molly Hartnett three-ball at the opening media timeout. Dealing with a three-point deficit towards the end of the first, Kesten answered with another triple to knot the game up at 19. In a high-scoring opening quarter, Northwest trailed by just two, 21-19. Kesten led all scorers with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting (3-of-3 3PT).
Fort Hays State (14-2, 5-2 MIAA) continued to score frequently in the second quarter, while Northwest found itself in a bit of a scoring drought. The Tigers matched their first-quarter scoring efforts (21) with three minutes to play in the quarter, leading 42-29. FHSU ended the half on a 10-1 run in four minutes of game time, leaving Northwest trailing 47-30 at the break. Despite a hot start, the Bearcats shot just 23.1% in the second quarter and made one of its six attempts from the three-point line. FHSU shot 63.3% in the first half.
Northwest cut its deficit to 15 after a
Kelsey Fields open layup yet trailed 56-39 at the media timeout in the third. The Tigers led 65-43 with one quarter to play. A 16-3 run by FHSU in just under seven minutes in the final quarter put the game out of reach for Northwest. The Tigers would walk out with an 84-60 win.
FHSU assisted on 26 of its 35 made field goals, compared to Northwest nine on 21 baskets. The Bearcats were outrebounded, 42-to-31, as well as losing the turnover battle, 8-to-5.
Overall, Northwest shot just 37.5% (21-of-56) from the field, and 33.3% (7-of-21) from long range.
Up Next:
Northwest finally returns to Bearcat Arena for a pair of contests in Washburn (Wednesday, Jan. 22) and Central Missouri (Saturday, Jan. 25).
