CLAREMORE, Okla. – Graduate guard Caely Kesten reached the 1,000-point milestone with a 21-point performance to lead the Northwest Missouri State women's basketball team (11-12, 4-9 MIAA) to a 76-73 victory over Rogers State at the Claremore Expo Center.
 
Kesten became the 30th Bearcat to reach the 1,000-point milestone, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while adding three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Kelsey Fields and Lindsey Kelderman each contributed 16 points, while Molly Hartnett rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.
 
The Bearcats shot 47.2% from the field and 31.6% from beyond the arc, maintaining the lead for over 31 minutes. Northwest's bench dominated with a 22-to-6 scoring advantage and controlled the boards with a 30-to-22 rebounding edge.
 
Northwest is now 10-0 against Rogers State in the all-time series. 
 
After missing Thursday's contest due to a brief injury, Northwest's leading scorer, Kesten returned to the starting lineup today. 
 
Rogers State (7-16, 1-13 MIAA) jumped to an early 4-0 lead after senior Kelsey Fields sank both free throws at the 7:40 mark. The Bearcats got on the board with their first field goal at 6:48 in the first quarter when Molly Hartnett jumped a pass and finished with a layup in transition. Hartnett started to take control, scoring six of Northwest's eight points before the media timeout, leading 10-6. Hartnett led with six points after the first quarter, with the game knotted up at 15. 
 
With 6:03 left in the first half, Kesten became just the 30th Bearcat to reach the 1,000-point milestone on a layup, assisted by Fields, to give the 'Cats a 23-19 advantage. The Hillcats clawed back to even the score at 23, before Fields laid one with 1:28 to play, putting Northwest back on top. The Bearcats shot 37.5% (9-of-24) from the field in the first half, yet unable to find a shot from deep (0-of-7). Fields totaled 10 first-half points to go along with three rebounds to give Northwest a 27-25 advantage at the break.  
 
Kesten knocked in Northwest's first three-pointer of the game at the 8:07 mark, triggering a 7-0 run to start the second half, leading 36-27. Lindsey Kelderman gave the Bearcats a 44-31 lead with 5:49 to go after recording back-to-back triples. With a 26-point quarter, Northwest led 53-47 at the end of three, despite a 7-0 run by RSU. 
 
RSU wasn't going anywhere in the fourth, cutting Northwest's lead down to five with just under nine to play. Whenever the Hillcats would respond with a run, the Bearcats would respond right back, as Northwest took a nine-point lead with 40 ticks to spare. A pair of free throws from Kelderman made it 76-71 with seven seconds to play. RSU would get a layup to fall at the buzzer, but Northwest would defeat Rogers State for the tenth-consecutive time, 76-73, in Claremore.  
 
UP NEXT
Northwest returns home for a pair of MIAA contests next week in Missouri Southern (Thursday, Feb. 13) and Pittsburg State (Saturday, Feb. 15).